Malaysia

Sabah will not take illegal immigrant problem lightly: home minister

All foreigners involved in country’s economic sector to possess valid travel documents in line with pandemic regulations

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 09 Mar 2021 4:00PM

Sabah will not take illegal immigrant problem lightly: home minister
Tightening security in Sabah against illegal immigrants also includes deportation, says Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin. – Bernama pic, March 9, 2021

KOTA KINABALU – The Home Ministry and Sabah government have decided to take firm action and will no longer make compromises in dealing with illegal immigrants in the state.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the move will include deporting them from Sabah, as have been done with over 600,000 Filipino and Indonesian illegal immigrants since 1990 until this month.

He said the state government has also stressed that all foreigners who wish to remain in the state must go through the immigration process and comply with the law.

“It is important now to possess legal travel documents for the government to succeed in curbing the spread of Covid-19 by vaccinating everyone, including foreigners, involved in the country’s economic sector,” he said in a statement today. 

Earlier, Hamzah, along with a delegation from the Home Ministry, paid a courtesy call to Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor at his office here today.

Commenting on his meeting with Hajiji, Hamzah said among the matters discussed were security issues, especially with regard to the illegal immigrant problem in the state.

Meanwhile, he said the Sabah government has approved an allocation of RM500,000 to beef up security in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone.

He said that the ministry through all agencies under its purview will strengthen the country’s security assets as well as government policies from time to time to maintain peace and stability in Sabah. – Bernama, March 9, 2021

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