The issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah today is mounting to as a matter of national sovereignty -the Land Below the Wind that was once so blessed with abundant natural resources but now stricken with appalling poverty level with overpopulated `aliens`.
Anthea Mulakala,Asia Foundation`s representative in Malaysia reported recently that 24% of households in Sabah live below the national poverty line.Child poverty rate is 42% and more than one fifth of the population aged six and above has never been to school.
It has been estimated too that there are between 1.7 million and two million illegal immigrants both from the Philippines and Indonesia.About half of them reputedly hold Malaysian identity cards,enjoying all the rights of citizenship,including voting.
To top it in there are loads of glue-sniffing street kids, abandoned offspring of illegal immigrants,groups classified as refugees, and hordes that move freely from the permeable Sabah coastline to islands in Philippines and Indonesia. No wonder the citizens are feeling the strain and fed up with this decade old problem that had never been resolved .
To make matters worse, this age-old illegal immigrants problem has heightened in the wake of the Moro National Liberation Fronts`s former leader Nur Misuari`s touted threat to contest the ownwership claim of Sabah at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).What if the matter goes to ICJ? Which side will the immigrant with ICs vote for?
The breaking point has come for Sabahans.Besides the loss of jobs and opportunities, the locals fear that this rising numbers of illegal immigrants could dilute their political strength and influence.Like what the Tuaran MP has once warned-` ..if this problem is not taken seriously,Malaysia could end up losing a much bigger piece of land than Batu Puteh...`
Let us hope that the plans of the Federal government to deport 150,000 illegal immigrants from Sabah in August be an urgent cohesive massive operation that is addressed squarely in the face and not just a lip service to the citizens of Sabah.
Perhaps imposing tighter immigration controls and even suspending ferry services from Zamboanga in Philppines and Sandakan can be seen as some wise measures.Is the fear of losing historical ties as the result of closing the borders to the people or disrupting traditional business such as dried seafood trade and other sources of income be compromised for the future of the citizens of Sabah.Other matters are of more importance now.
We can not afford to loose Sabah to the illegal immigrants in any way...Deportation is the word of the day for them and the rest will fall in place..
Anthea Mulakala,Asia Foundation`s representative in Malaysia reported recently that 24% of households in Sabah live below the national poverty line.Child poverty rate is 42% and more than one fifth of the population aged six and above has never been to school.
It has been estimated too that there are between 1.7 million and two million illegal immigrants both from the Philippines and Indonesia.About half of them reputedly hold Malaysian identity cards,enjoying all the rights of citizenship,including voting.
To top it in there are loads of glue-sniffing street kids, abandoned offspring of illegal immigrants,groups classified as refugees, and hordes that move freely from the permeable Sabah coastline to islands in Philippines and Indonesia. No wonder the citizens are feeling the strain and fed up with this decade old problem that had never been resolved .
To make matters worse, this age-old illegal immigrants problem has heightened in the wake of the Moro National Liberation Fronts`s former leader Nur Misuari`s touted threat to contest the ownwership claim of Sabah at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).What if the matter goes to ICJ? Which side will the immigrant with ICs vote for?
The breaking point has come for Sabahans.Besides the loss of jobs and opportunities, the locals fear that this rising numbers of illegal immigrants could dilute their political strength and influence.Like what the Tuaran MP has once warned-` ..if this problem is not taken seriously,Malaysia could end up losing a much bigger piece of land than Batu Puteh...`
Let us hope that the plans of the Federal government to deport 150,000 illegal immigrants from Sabah in August be an urgent cohesive massive operation that is addressed squarely in the face and not just a lip service to the citizens of Sabah.
Perhaps imposing tighter immigration controls and even suspending ferry services from Zamboanga in Philppines and Sandakan can be seen as some wise measures.Is the fear of losing historical ties as the result of closing the borders to the people or disrupting traditional business such as dried seafood trade and other sources of income be compromised for the future of the citizens of Sabah.Other matters are of more importance now.
We can not afford to loose Sabah to the illegal immigrants in any way...Deportation is the word of the day for them and the rest will fall in place..
1 comment:
Kerajaan sepatutnya menghentikan pemberian elaun kepada bekas keturunan Sultan Sulu. Pemberian ini seolah2 kita mengiktiraf hak keturunan Sulu ke atas Sabah.
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