KOTA KINABALU – A Parti Warisan Sabah leader has hit out at Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) politicians for their inaction over the state’s illegal immigrant issue, despite being critical of the matter when they were the opposition.
Warisan Youth leader Jo-anna Sue Henley Rampas, in a statement, said there should be no more delays in repatriating illegal immigrants, given that the GRS government is politically aligned with the Perikatan Nasional federal administration.
“It has been almost a year since PN took over the federal government, and there has been no substantive action to flush out the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in Sabah, apart from the normal ‘catch and detain’ by police.
“Now that these leaders are in power… their previous call to deport all illegal immigrants has suddenly fizzled out.”
She said leaders like Kiulu assemblyman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai and Datuk Jahid Jahim from Parti Bersatu Sabah were previously critical of the then Warisan Plus state government.
Bangkuai had said the authorities had the ability to deport illegals, citing several immigration laws.
Jahid, meanwhile, had slammed the Pakatan Harapan-era Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) proposal by drawing a comparison to documentation issued by previous governments.
The PSS was proposed during PH’s reign to resolve Sabah’s illegal immigrant problem by standardising a single documentation to replace the IMM13, Surat Burung-Burung and Census Certificate.
“Several GRS leaders had loudly objected to it, and threw all sorts of allegations against Warisan,” said Jo-anna Sue.
“These allegations were aimed at scaring voters and accusing Warisan as being ‘pro-illegal immigrants’ or Warisan is ‘helping illegal immigrants acquire citizenship’.”
She said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin must fulfil their promises, now that Sabah is aligned with Putrajaya, adding that it was Muhyiddin who proposed the PSS during the PH era.
The Warisan Wirawati Youth deputy chief said the previous Warisan-led state government had promoted the PSS, but later cancelled it after the party’s defeat in the Kimanis by-election early last year due to heavy opposition to the PSS by leaders now in GRS.
“When desperate politicians promise the moon and the stars during campaigning, but later fail to deliver, it will cost them the people’s trust and respect,” said Jo-anna Sue.
She urged rights groups to pressure the GRS government to immediately resolve the state’s illegal immigrant woes. – The Vibes pic, January 8, 2021
