586,700 illegals deported from Sabah since 1990

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 586,700 illegal immigrants were deported from Sabah from 1990 until Sept 30 this year, according to the Home Ministry.

The ministry said, the government through the Commi ee on the Management of Foreign Nationals in Sabah is going all out to tackle the issue of illegal immigrants in the state.

Enforcement and deportation of illegal immigrants have been stepped up, it said.

According to the ministry, cooperation of the Embassy of the Philippines had also been enlisted to speed up issuance of Travel Documents to illegal immigrants from the ASEAN neighbour detained in Sabah to facilitate deportation.

“This cooperation has had a positive impact in that these documents are made available in two to three weeks as compared to two to three months before, since implementation of the move (managing foreign nationals in Sabah) in January 2016,” the ministry said in a wri en reply to a question from Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau (UpkoTuaran). The MP had wanted to know when the government would be implementing all the recommendations made by the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah.

The ministry added that the government also introduced the term ‘Rekod Kelahiran’ (Birth Record) to document birth of noncitizens in Sabah which came into force on Sept 15, 2015, aimed at differentiating clearly documents of birth for citiizens and noncitizens in the state.

As such, the term ‘Sijil Kelahiran’ (Birth Certificate) in Sabah is only for citizens, the ministry said.

The ministry’s reply was uploaded on Parliament’s website today.