The Malaysian Insight

RESOLVE the issue of dubious MyKad holders before trying to help the stateless, Jeffrey Kitingan urged the Sabah government.

The Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president said there are likely “hundreds of thousands” of people in the state who obtained MyKad via the back door.

“Solidariti is totally against the proposal by the chief minister (Mohd Shafie Apdal) to legalise Sabah-born children, who are now categorised as foreigners, if one of their parents is Malaysian.

“The potential for abuse in such an exercise is huge, and will worsen the situation for the indigenous people of Sabah, who are already a diminishing demographic.”

He said he has received many messages from the public regarding the state government’s plan.

Yesterday, Shafie said the state administration will continue its legalisation programme and assist children from unregistered marriages between locals and foreigners.

He said there should be no issue about helping these children secure a better future.

“Why is the chief minister making the legalisation of foreigners the No. 1 agenda, and obviously in a hurry to achieve this in the shortest possible time?” said Kitingan.

He said there is a risk of newcomers to Sabah easily obtaining MyKad under the programme, warning that it could lead to “the stateless and illegals becoming the dominant group” in the state.

Many Sabahans are concerned about the exercise, and might resort to holding protests should Shafie keep it going, he said.

“Many believe there are underlying motives, and indigenous Sabahans feel that it’s a threat.

“They also believe that Shafie is trying to find ways to legalise illegal immigrants. There is no way this can be controlled when the operation starts.” – March 14, 2019.