KOTA KINABALU: Bersih Sabah 3.0 calls for a ‘Royal Commission Inquiry into the Grant of Malaysian Citizenship to Aliens and the Presence of Illegal Immigrants in Sabah’.

Source: Malaysia Today

LETTERS/SURAT
Tuesday, 17 April 2012 admin-s

The future of Malaysia may be decided by those who are essentially not Malaysians.

Bersih Sabah

On 21 August 2011, the Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Razak had asked us to be patient and not to doubt his sincerity for polls reforms. We are waiting, anxiously.

The increase in the population in Sabah has been extraordinary since 1970s. The Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics 2010 report published by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia reveals that more than 1 in 4
residents in Sabah is not a Malaysian citizen, or 27.7%.

The situation is much worse when one looks into the population of youths in Sabah. According to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, there are 1,046,869 Malaysian youths in Sabah in 2010, and 525,218 non-Malaysian youths residing in Malaysia. And this is just the number of detectable migrants. These figures do not include aliens who have obtained their Malaysian citizenships through improper means.

Very real and substantiated allegations have been made against the National Registration Department on the improper issuance of Malaysian citizenships to aliens (in what is dubbed the 'Project IC'). Worse of all, there have been allegations of 'citizenship for votes' whereby foreign aliens have been promised citizenship of Malaysia in exchange for loyalty to UMNO.

This is a chance for the Barisan Nasional government to clear its name. The NRD has not released any figures as to how many foreign aliens have been granted citizenship since 1970. However, it is estimated that there are 737,000 of them are recipients of this 'Project IC' and 200,000 of them are eligible to vote. This means the future of Malaysia may be decided by those who are essentially not Malaysians. We, the genuine Malaysians, should be the ones who shall decide the future of our beloved nation.

The socioeconomic impacts are just as severe. The burden on the State and Federal government is extremely heavy due to the utilisation of public amenities, schools and hospitals by these unaccounted aliens. This is why Bersih Sabah 3.0 calls for a Royal Commission.

There is a unanimous and overwhelming support for the establishment of this Royal Commission. From all sides of political divide, be it UMNO, PBS, and UPKO from Barisan Nasional and PKR, DAP and PAS from Pakatan Rakyat, SAPP and STAR
as well as NGOs and individuals, the entire Sabah echoes the same call. In fact, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms headed by Dr. Maximus Ongkili reiterated the same.

The situation is Sabah is dire and the Sabahans are unanimous - if our government is sincere about reforms, the Royal Commission must be established now.

Andrew Ambrose
Mewakili Jawatankuasa Pepandu
Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (BERSIH Sabah 3.0)