Proposal to give illegals citizenship unacceptable – MP
SANDAKAN: The proposal to give illegal immigrants temporary citizenship or permanent residency is totally unacceptable, said Sandakan member of parliament Stephen Wong Tien Fatt.
Commenting on a proposal by Federation of Chinese Association Sabah (FCAS) president Datuk Seri Panglima Dr T.C. Goh in Kota Kinabalu last Monday, Wong described the idea as illogical becuase it would jeopardize the sovereignty of Sabah.
“Over the past 20 years, Sabah has been facing the problem of illegal immigrants entering the State. Sabahans are becoming lesser with almost 50 per cent of immigrants populating Sabah now.
“If we let them have temporary citizenship or permanent residency, soon Sabahans will not be the majority in Sabah anymore, and we will lose Sabah totally.
“How can a representative of the Chinese people in Sabah (TC Goh) propose such a thing? This will give the illegal immigrants the idea that the Chinese people in Sabah support them being here,” Wong, who is also deputy chairman of Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sabah, told the Borneo Post yesterday.
Goh had proposed to provide proper procedure for illegal immigrants who intended to work in Sabah by allowing them to apply for temporary citizenship or permanent residency.
He said during a dinner organised for Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department cum MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong to meet with the local Chinese community leaders last Monday, that the government should let the illegal immigrants who fulfill the requirement become citizens because they had contributed to the industries and agricultural sector.
He said that many illegal immigrants were third generations who were born in Sabah, whose parents were also illegal immigrants. For that reason, they should be allowed to stay in Sabah legally to work.
Goh had also said that not only the Chinese, but the Kadazandusun people would also be happy if this issue (illegal immigrants problem) was resolved as he claimed that some police and immigration officers had been nabbing illegal immigrants working for the Chinese to get the bosses to ‘rescue’ their workers.
On this note, Wong said that the problem was from the enforcers and it should be solved within the enforcement agencies, not by giving rights to illegal immigrants to stay legally here.
“I dare to say that the majority of Sabahans would reject this proposal. Goh should check properly before proposing something.
“I understand that business in Sabah requires workmanship, but this could be solved with work permit system. This way the government could get permit application fee and it is a winwin situation,” he said.
On the same occasion on Monday, Wee said that he would forward Goh’s proposal to give illegal immigrants temporary citizenship or permanent residency, to the Home Ministry.
Wee was also quoted as saying that “since the illegal immigrants were born here and needed to earn a living, they should have a way to at least stay here legally and receive basic education. When their stomachs are full, a lot of security issues can be resolved”.
In response to Wee’s statement, Wong said that his statement was ridiculous.
He said there are still a lot of Sabahans, especially in the rural areas, whose stomachs are not full.