Tuaran: Tuaran Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said the Federal Government has shown a lack of seriousness in implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah, with the oversight committee convening only 13 times in over a decade.
Madius voiced his frustration following a written parliamentary reply from the Home Ministry in response to his oral question submitted to the Dewan Rakyat sitting.
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He had sought clarification on what concrete progress had been made since the RCI report was submitted to the government in 2014 in addressing the damaging legacy of the so-called Project IC in Sabah.
According to the Ministry’s reply, the RCI on undocumented migrants was established in 2012, with its report handed to the government in 2014. This led to the formation of the Sabah Foreign Nationals Management Committee (JKPWAS) on Dec 3, 2014.
“Since the committee was established, the Ministry informed that only 13 meetings have been held.
“Over more than 10 years, that is not even an average of once a year. This shows the government is not truly serious about addressing an issue that is critically important to the people of Sabah,” he said.
The Tamparuli Assemblyman further questioned the substance of those meetings, noting that discussions appeared focused on administrative and operational matters such as the implementation of the Integrated Management System for Foreign and Non-Resident Workers in Sabah (SWIMS) and the granting of enforcement moratoriums rather than the systematic implementation of the RCI’s core recommendations.
“What is being discussed are mostly current affairs and administrative management, not the comprehensive implementation of the RCI’s recommendations. If that is the case, what was the point of establishing the RCI and producing a detailed report if its recommendations are not being carried out in earnest?” he said.
The Ministry’s written reply revealed that the 13th JKPWAS meeting, held on Aug 14, 2025, decided among other things to extend the Digital Registration Programme for Foreign Nationals through SWIMS until Dec 31, 2028 and to grant a moratorium to foreign workers already registered in the system.
As of Dec 31, 2025, a total of 122,228 foreign workers had been registered under the system, with 67.3 per cent identified as undocumented workers.
Madius said that the PATI issue in Sabah goes far beyond data management or temporary moratoriums, and is fundamentally tied to the state’s sovereignty, security and the constitutional rights of its people.
“The RCI was created to resolve a major problem that has burdened this State for a very long time. If after more than 10 years only 13 meetings have been held and there has been no comprehensive implementation of the key recommendations, this clearly reflects the government’s lack of seriousness in resolving the undocumented immigrant issue once and for all,” he said.
He called on the Federal Government to show stronger political commitment and to set a specific timeline for implementing the RCI’s principal recommendations, in order to restore the confidence of Sabahans that the issue is genuinely being addressed.
