KOTA KINABALU – Sabah’s preliminary report on the crisis of undocumented migrants will also tackle problems faced by stateless local children and the seafaring Pala’u community, deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said today.
He said that he has taken note of suggestions that the report, to be presented to the state cabinet on May 15, should include the stateless natives and the Pala’u, many of whom lead a nomadic lifestyle in Malaysian, Indonesian, and the Philippines’ marine territories.
Jeffrey described the Pala’u people’s plight as a “special problem” that needs to be resolved.
“We cannot let the Pala’u folks not be part of any country or (not have any) citizenship.
“We want them to have a home so they can be protected, not be exposed and exploited by any unscrupulous people,” he said to reporters after attending the Anzac Day ceremony here today.
Recently, Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin has proposed that the report on undocumented migrant workers and nationals should include the stateless Pala’u communities.
Chan noted that people in his parliamentary constituency of Keningau became incensed by a viral clip of two children, believed to be Pala’u, placing screws on the road.
He said the continued presence of the Pala’u in the city could lead to a rise in social ills and crime in the state capital.
“We will surely include in the report solutions also on the stateless children. We also do not want the problem to continue for so long,” said Jeffrey, who heads the special committee on undocumented migrant workers and nationals.
“We cannot let the children forever be stateless and they need to belong to something so that their future can be taken care of. We need to help them build a future for themselves.”
Jeffrey said the committee will go into formulating the framework and policy after capturing all the data, and implementing them thereafter.
He also confirmed that the report will be submitted to cabinet on May 15. – The Vibes, April 24, 2022
