Towards quicker deportations
Published on: Thursday, October 05, 2023
By:
Hayati Dzulkifli, James Sarda
This seventh of a series is in conjunction with Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor’s third year as Sabah Chief Minister. More tomorrow
Kota Kinabalu: The Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-led State Government will never stop repatriating illegal immigrants (PTIs) – a legacy issue from past administrations – to lessen their numbers, said Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Anxious that some cleared for deportation continue to remain due to reluctance by Filipino vessels to come as they are not allowed to bring in goods, the Chief Minister is working out a win-win-solution.
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Under the framework, Filipino vessels would be allowed to bring goods to do barter and at the same time pick up PTIs cleared for deportation on the return trip home.
In the meantime, the authorities would continue operations to nab those in the State without valid documents or claiming to have lost them (after arrival).
“We are facing a problem of illegal immigrants from Philippines who claim they have been living here for decades and their country do not want them back.
“When we send the names of these PTIs to their embassy, it takes time for them to verify and check if truly from there.
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“Hence, when these PTIs have no documents, another problem arises as the Philippine Government do not recognise them as their citizens.
“It may seem at a glance that their government want these PTIs to be in Sabah. But most importantly, the State Government is making progress and taking proactive action to send them back. The Philippines is the one that does not (readily) accept them,” he said.
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Hajiji said compounding the issue is the Philippines claim on Sabah which make them reluctant to set up a Consulate here that could address the existing issues.
“Nevertheless, sending them back is our duty and responsibility to Sabah and the people,” Hajiji said in a special interview to mark his third year as Chief Minister.
Hajiji said Sabah has three detention centres that are sometimes filled to capacity with up to 7,000 detainees and “we must also feed them”.
The problem does not end there. Those cleared by the embassy for repatriation often have to wait as their vessel would come late to pick them up, causing further delay in deporting.
“This is because they are not pleased with the ruling that they cannot do barter trade when coming to pick up the PTIs.
“The Malaysian authorities do not allow such transaction (barter). The (vessel) operators do not wish to come if their vessels are empty when heading to Sabah.
“I have written to the Minister of Transport and Director of Immigration to seek a resolution so that the Marine Department would allow the vessels from the Philippines to carry goods and do barter here while picking up the PTIs,” he said.
Hajiji said he would also bring this matter to be discussed in a meeting of Chief Ministers and Menteri Besars for a solution.
By doing this (allowing barter), Sabah would able to send back the PTIs even on a daily basis.
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