Illegals in Adenan’s cross hairs
KUCHING: Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem vows to go all-out to rid the state of illegal immigrants before they become too big a problem to handle like what is happening in Sabah.
The chief minister said it irked him that the Immigration Department had been informed of the illegal immigrant problem originating from the Philippines since last year but failed to act on it.
He said he had instructed the Immigration department to take immediate action to detain the illegal immigrants and send them home.
“We do not want the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah to take root in Sarawak. Do not allow a small problem to fester and become difficult to handle later on.”
“I mean business. Don’t mess with me as far as Sarawak’s interest is concerned. I cannot do this alone, so I need your co-operation and you must work together. There should be no shirking of responsibility, no
“We do not want the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah to take root in Sarawak. Do not allow a small problem to fester and become difficult to handle later on.”
quarrel over turf or jurisdiction. We are in this together,” he said at the state-level International Day of Forests celebration at the State Legislative Assembly Complex here yesterday.
Adenan regretted there were local companies which facilitated the illegal immigrants to cross over to the state to use them for cheap labour.
“We must put a stop to this now. I don’t want to end up like Sabah, and I mean business for this. We have to take a firm stand now otherwise we have to take desperate stand later on.
“Of course there are women and children involved in the detention centre. But we are doing everything we can to offer them humanitarian aid. Do not think I enjoy doing this sort of thing, but it has to be done. They will be provided with food and drinks, then you deport them, treat them humanely.”
Pointing out there was no room for weak enforcement in his administration, Adenan stressed that the authorities concerned would have to do more to improve.