Sabah IC the best solution for the undocumented: Kitingan

KOTA KINABALU – Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) is urging for Sabah identity cards to be implemented quickly to resolve the issue of illegal immigrants the state.
 
STAR president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said the Sabah IC should have been introduced a long time ago, as recommended by the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the illegal immigrants in Sabah.
 
“I applaud the government’s effort to locate and issue identification cards to undocumented indigenous people in Sabah. We are well aware that many of our indigenous people lack legal documentation.
 
“There are a variety of reasons for this, including the difficulty faced by communities living in inaccessible areas in registering their children’s births, ignorance about the importance of the documents, and even apathy toward the law of the land.
 
“Furthermore, we have heard accounts of people making the lengthy trek to town to register their children only to be turned away or required to pay hefty late registration charges. Due to poverty, the majority of these people eventually give up trying to obtain birth certificates for their children.
 
“Several generations later, despite being natives of this land, their offspring found themselves stateless. They cannot vote, go to school, own land, get a job or enjoy many other privileges that many of us take for granted.
 
“In the meantime, illegal immigrants who arrived in Sabah last week already have MyKad obtained through dubious means, and they are free to open shops, take our jobs and even buy property here,” he said in response to the Home Ministry's suggestion to give citizenship to undocumented Sabahans from indigenous communities.
 
Jeffrey said that the Sabah IC would not replace the MyKad, but rather defend and protect rights, particularly the right to vote, of genuine Sabahans, regardless of race and religion.
 
He also said that the Sabah IC does not even have to be a physical document, but can be digital, where information will be securely kept.
 
“Reaching out to communities in remote areas of Sabah will be difficult, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.
 
“Furthermore, to prove their status as indigneous persons, we must establish special criteria to authenticate them, such as verification of their ancestors and original villages or towns,” he added. – The Vibes, September 23, 2021