Fatimah: Inter-agency collab needed to address homelessness, illegals
KUCHING: Tackling homeless issues in Sarawak, especially concerning illegal immigrants among women and children, requires strong collaboration between government agencies, said Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
The Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister said different agencies such as the Immigration Department, local authorities, Welfare Department, and Health Department need to sit together to solve the problem holistically.
She said this includes finding a safe place for illegal immigrant children as an alternative to detention centres, and giving them access to education in their best interests.
Fatimah cited a recent rescue operation in Lawas, where four homeless people were illegal immigrants.
“We welcome the collaboration between the Sarawak Immigration Department and our ministry. When we talk about the well-being of the people, we need to collaborate with various agencies.
“When it involves target groups such as women and children, of course, this becomes an area where we need to collaborate. There are several things we discussed earlier.
“One is about illegal immigrants, which involves not only men but also women and some also involve children,” she told reporters following a courtesy call from a state Immigration Department delegation led by director Abang Abdul Halim Abang Naili.
“If we talk about the children, we will also look at the age of the children, then how long they have been at the depot. This will determine, for example, basic human rights that must be given to the child such as the right to get an education.
“This is where we can collaborate on how we can make sure that these children must have get their basic right to education regardless of their citizenship being looked into. This is one of the things where we can collaborate.”
Fatimah said the collaboration would also deal with drugs and substance issues as the Immigration Department is a member of the One-Stop Committee.
She said this is important in dealing with drug and substance issues, especially criminal activities involving drug trafficking near international border areas.
Abang Abdul Halim said the courtesy call was to introduce himself to the ministry and the newly-appointed directorgeneral, as well as exchange views on welfare issues, especially illegal immigrant issues in Sarawak.
“The purpose of today’s courtesy visit is for us to coordinate the cooperation that we can have together with this ministry so that we double up the operation,” he said.
“So, for cases related to illegal immigrants involving women, we will hold joint programmes for specific purposes, which is under our department. We will gear up our activities with Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Ministry.”