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Monday, October 06, 2008
Posted by
Charles Hector
Sabah population increases by 285%,
whilst Malaysia's population iincreases by only 113% - something is
very wrong..
There are BIG questions that the
Barisan Nasional government, currently led by
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,
has got to answer about Sabah's "new" citizens - persons who have
since 30 years ago have suddenly become Malaysian citizens or have
acquired PR Status. (Children where 1 parent has PR status are
automatically citizens)
Many have called it an 'illegal migrant problem' - but I think that
label causes confusion, which result in Migrant Rights and
Human Rights groups reacting thinking that we are talking
about the undocumented migrant/refugee problem. {I believe the BN
government likes to use the term "illegal migrant proiblem" to the
Sabah situation just to cause the confusion.....Recall to that the
recent government response was arrest and deport the undocumented
migrants ---- very evasive and certainly not looking at the the
Sabah "new" citizen problem...}
The Sabah problem is a "new citizen" problem. Who are these "new
citizens"? How did they acquire citizenship? How do we now deal with
these "new citizens" and their citizen children today? Recent
revelations by MP for Sepanggar, Datuk Eric Majimbun also reveals
that true original citizens are also in some cases are also losing
their citizenship...
"(7) The
discrepancy in the percentage increase between Kadazan, Dusun,
Murut on the one hand and other Bumiputera between 1970 and
2000 i.e. 236 per cent and 631 per cent respectively; ...
(9) The discrepancies in the population increase between 1970 to
2000 in Sabah, Sarawak and
Malaysia:
10,439,430 to 22,202,614 or up by 113 percent in Malaysia; 976,269
to 2,012,616 or up by 106 percent in Sarawak; and 636,431 to
2,449,389 or up by 285 percent in Sabah." -
Malaysiakini, 6/10/2008 - Sapp: 'Loopholes' behind IC scam
These new facts, were amongst the many other points that were
disclosed by MP for Sepanggar, Datuk Eric Majimbun. (See below for
more points raised as found in the Malaysiakini report...)
Evidence
of illegal issuance of MyKad to foreigners will be released by the
Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) tomorrow.
The MP for Sepanggar, Datuk Eric Majimbun, said he would reveal the
details that led to a population explosion in the state.
"Just imagine, our population increased by 285 per cent between 1970
and 2000," he said. "I will bare all, including proof of people not
born in Sabah becoming Malaysian citizens (in Sabah)."
- The
New Straits Times,
3/10/2008 - SAPP to show proof of Sabah MyKad scandal
Related to this, was the answer in
Parliament in 2006 with regard the ethnic composition of
Sabahans
Who are
the “Other Bumiputera” and Other Ethnic Groups” in Sabah? According
to an answer to
Teresa Kok (DAP Seputeh), the PM Department said that there
are 436,300 “Other Bumiputera” and 143,500 “Other Ethnic Groups” in
Sabah. These constituted 25.9 percent of the Sabah population.
The
composition of ethnic groups in Sabah as of March 206:
Melayu
342,500 15.3%
Kadazan/Dusun 530,000 23.7%
Bajau 399,300 17.8%
Murut 98,400 4.4%
Bumiputera Lain 436,300 19.5%
Cina 287,200 12.8%
Lain-lain Etnik 143,500 6.4%
Jumlah Warganegara 2,237,100 100.0% (75.1%)
Bukan Warganegara 743,600 (24.9%)
Jumlah 2,980,700 (100.0%)
The
question is who are the “Other Bumiputera” and “Other Ethnic Groups”
that cannot be classified according to a particular ethnic group.
Are these “citizens” non-indigenous to Sabah? -
taken from the Blog of Chow Kon Yeow
Some interesting BN governmental responses:-
Mohd
Najib Razak -
Deputy Prime Minister
He
dismissed Deputy Prime Minister Najib
Abdul Razak’s
comment in Kota
Kinabalu on Saturday that “there could have been
administrative errors at the state NRD but this will be put right.
No one will be victimised." - -
Malaysiakini, 6/10/2008 - Sapp: 'Loopholes' behind IC scam
Nazri Aziz
A state
ruling coalition leader has taken Minister in the Prime Minister's
Department Mohd Nazri
Abdul Aziz to task for making light of the concerns of
Sabahan over the growing menace posed by the large presence of
illegal immigrants in the state.
Sabah
Progressive Party (Sapp) leader Tham Nyip Shen, who is also state
science and technology advisor, said he was 'utterly shocked' that
Nazri could have said in Parliament recently “that the presence of
foreigners, including those with IMM13 documents, did not cause
social, security and economic problems in Sabah.”
- Malaysiakini, 8/7/2006 Sabah leader blasts Nazri over immigrant
remark
In 2007, the Parliamentary Select Committee tried to look into this
but alas the National Registration Department refused to turn up,
and...
“It is a
serious matter and indicates an unbecoming attitude of an agency
when a meeting called by the Parliamentary Select Committee can be
rejected.
“This is
also disrespectful to Parliament and reflects the standard and
quality of administration of this country,” Ramon said in a
statement today.
He also
called for Dompok’sposition as chairperson of the PSCI to be
reinstated and that the NRD be held accountable for the issuance of
identity cards
in Sabah where there is apparent widespread abuse.
“Tough
disciplinary action must be taken against individuals and agencies
that do not heed parliamentary meetings seriously,” he added. -
Malaysiakini, 19/5/2007 -
Kit Siang and
groups support Dompok
.... the Chairman of that Parliamentary Select Committee resigned...
Dompok’s
decision to resign from the bi-partisan committee followed Lim’s
question on why a scheduled committee meeting yesterday with
National Registration Department (NRD) into a
fake identity card
scandal in Sabah dubbed ‘Project M’ was suddenly cancelled.
Test of
strength
The NRD
has refused to appear before the committee - a move which Nazri has
supported. - -
Malaysiakini, 19/5/2007 - Kit Siang and groups support Dompok
It is obvious that the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and
the BN generally have no interest in investigating the "new"
citizens of Sabah, and how they suddenly became citizens. Why?
Maybe, because the whole situation has benefited UMNO - who
certainly is today the dominant BN component party in Sabah, a
situation which would not, most likely not be if the ethnic
composition remained the same as it was in 1970.
Even in Semenanjung Malaysia, some say that the difference of the
ethnic composition in 2008, compared to that in 1957 raises some
questions as to whether there were "new" citizens also created here.
Different birth rates
among the ethnic groups do not explain the difference.
There must be an investigation into this issue of the "new" citizens
of Sabah (and maybe even Malaysia) - and the guilty must be exposed
and penalized.
With regard the "new" citizens and their now citizen children, that
will be a difficult problem to resolve BUT the whole community must
come together and find a solution.
Many of these "new" citizens and their children have become
Malaysian, have lived and studied in Malaysia - so the solution may
not be the stripping of citizenship or the deportation to some other
country.
The term "illegal migrant problem" - probable a term that the UMNO
led BN government would like to use to confuse the issue especially
in Malaysia. Why? Because most
Malaysians
immediately start thinking about the undocumented migrants in
Malaysia who have been around for a couple of years or so... The
"new" citizen problem of Sabah is very very different...
Anyway, back to that Malaysiakini report, and the other points
raised by Eric Majimbun
Cases in
point
Majimbun
highlighted some pertinent facts and figures the bureau has collated
in recent days:
1) The case of Filipino, Jerom Maguil, who was issued MyKad
5609030-12-5739 (old IC No: H0540992) under the name of Jerom
Majimbon and staying in Eric Majimbun’s village in Inanam, Kampung
Pomotodon. Inanam is in the outlying regions of greater Kota
Kinabalu.
The case file includes a letter that Eric wrote to the Home Ministry
secretary-general on Oct 4 last year on the case, with copies to the
NRD in
Kuala Lumpur and the state NRD; the reply from the Home
Ministry in Parliament confirming that Jerom Majimbon a.k.a Jerom
Maguil was not entitled to the MyKad he was holding.
The fact
remains the MyKad has not been withdrawn, neither has Majimbon been
deported. There was no reply to the Oct 4 letter;
2) The history of statements from residents in Kampong Pomotodon
bringing the presence of Jerom Majimbon a.k.a. Jerom Maguil to MP
Eric Majimbun’s attention;
3) The case file of a Sino-Dusun, Thien Kau Pah B Kian Kim, 60, born
and bred in Kampung Melaka, Jalan Kionsom, Inanam, Kota Kinabalu and
issued a MyPR and not the MyKad to which he is entitled when he had
to change his old blue IC. His appeals were not entertained;
4) The state NRD replacing the MyKad of a senior citizen, Yong Lee
Hua @ Piang Lin, 78, a native, with a MyPR (permanent
resident status) after she lost her MyKad to a picket pocket
on Feb 12 last year at a supermarket in Penampang Baru, an outlying
region of Kota Kinabalu, on the grounds that “senior citizens who
lose their MyKads are given the MyPR as replacement”;
5) Some cases of passport-holding foreigners from
Philippines
and
Indonesia who have one or two of their children becoming
Malaysian citizens although their other children are not citizens;
6) 65,000 Filipino refugees were issued the IMM13 refugee documents
in the 1970s, according to the federal government. More recently,
the federal government cited the same figures for 2008 raising
various questions on the subject: how many have been given
citizenship, permanent residence and bumiputera status?
7) The discrepancy in the percentage increase between Kadazan, Dusun,
Murut on the one hand and other Bumiputera between 1970 and 2000
i.e. 236 per cent and 631 per cent respectively;
8) The problem of children of inter-marriages being classified as
sino-natives and not as natives; and
9) The discrepancies in the population increase between 1970 to 2000
in Sabah, Sarawak and Malaysia: 10,439,430 to 22,202,614 or up by
113 percent in Malaysia; 976,269 to 2,012,616 or up by 106 percent
in Sarawak; and 636,431 to 2,449,389 or up by 285 percent in Sabah.
“The situation we are in right now calls for a change (in attitude)
in government,” said Majimbun.
“We are
already being marginalised in all aspects. What will happen to our
future generations? People should not simply say that we are
touching on a sensitive issue. We are talking about something that
concerns the future of our children and the future generations.”
Majimbun pledged that all information gathered by his bureau would
be brought to the attention of the federal and state governments “to
let them know and take these matters seriously”.-
Malaysiakini, 6/10/2008 - Sapp: 'Loopholes' behind IC scam
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