Government proactive in taking action against abuse of power by individuals in or outside NRD.
FMT
KOTA KINABALU: There had been no direct or indirect involvement of the National Registration Department (NRD) and state government departments and agencies in the “Project IC” in Sabah, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.
However, he said, there had been abuse of power by individuals in or outside NRD at the time and legal action had been taken against the individuals involved.
“Action was taken even before the setting up of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (on illegal immigrants in Sabah), whereby 94 offenders were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) at the time. Meaning, there was proactive action by the government.
“So in this matter, I urge all quarters to have an open mind and heart for us at the ministry and federal and state governments to sincerely help resolve this issue,” he said after visiting the Tempopary Detention Centre for Illegal Immigrants in Kimanis today.
Meanwhile, Zahid noted that the number of Malaysian citizens in Sabah was smaller than the number in Sarawak.
He said that according to the Statistics Department Report 2010, the total population of Sabah was 3.2 million comprising Malaysian citizens and non-citizens with valid documents as well as illegals.
“However, out of that number, the citizens formed only 2.511 million, compared with 2.6 million of their counterparts in Sarawak.
“After subtracting the number of Malaysian citizens from the total population of 3.2 million in Sabah, the number of foreigners in the state including those with valid documents and allowed to work and the illegal ones stood at about 700,000.”
However, Zahid said, it was difficult for the ministry to ascertain the actual number of illegals in Sabah as they were not registered but their number was estimated at around 250,000.
Zahid also noted that since 1990, 401,000 foreigners, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, had been repatriated to their countries of origin and in 2014 alone until October, 17,434 were repatriated.
He said efforts to detect and detain illegals in Sabah were ongoing and not seasonal, while any weaknesses were being addressed for effectiveness in tackling the issue of illegals.
On the proposal to increase the number of immigration detention depots in Sabah and expanding the capacity of the existing ones, Zahid said the matter was being considered.
On cooperation from the Philippines and Indonesia in tackling the issue of illegals in Sabah, he said so far it had been satisfactory following discussions between Wisma Putra and the countries concerned.
– BERNAMA
FMT
KOTA KINABALU: There had been no direct or indirect involvement of the National Registration Department (NRD) and state government departments and agencies in the “Project IC” in Sabah, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.
However, he said, there had been abuse of power by individuals in or outside NRD at the time and legal action had been taken against the individuals involved.
“Action was taken even before the setting up of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (on illegal immigrants in Sabah), whereby 94 offenders were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) at the time. Meaning, there was proactive action by the government.
“So in this matter, I urge all quarters to have an open mind and heart for us at the ministry and federal and state governments to sincerely help resolve this issue,” he said after visiting the Tempopary Detention Centre for Illegal Immigrants in Kimanis today.
Meanwhile, Zahid noted that the number of Malaysian citizens in Sabah was smaller than the number in Sarawak.
He said that according to the Statistics Department Report 2010, the total population of Sabah was 3.2 million comprising Malaysian citizens and non-citizens with valid documents as well as illegals.
“However, out of that number, the citizens formed only 2.511 million, compared with 2.6 million of their counterparts in Sarawak.
“After subtracting the number of Malaysian citizens from the total population of 3.2 million in Sabah, the number of foreigners in the state including those with valid documents and allowed to work and the illegal ones stood at about 700,000.”
However, Zahid said, it was difficult for the ministry to ascertain the actual number of illegals in Sabah as they were not registered but their number was estimated at around 250,000.
Zahid also noted that since 1990, 401,000 foreigners, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, had been repatriated to their countries of origin and in 2014 alone until October, 17,434 were repatriated.
He said efforts to detect and detain illegals in Sabah were ongoing and not seasonal, while any weaknesses were being addressed for effectiveness in tackling the issue of illegals.
On the proposal to increase the number of immigration detention depots in Sabah and expanding the capacity of the existing ones, Zahid said the matter was being considered.
On cooperation from the Philippines and Indonesia in tackling the issue of illegals in Sabah, he said so far it had been satisfactory following discussions between Wisma Putra and the countries concerned.
– BERNAMA
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