By Arjun Mohanakrishnan
KUALA LUMPUR – The controversial “Project IC” was a point of contention for Sabah lawmakers at the Dewan Rakyat today as MPs continued the debate for the proposed constitutional amendments on citizenship.
Riduan Rubin (Tenom-Independent), mentioned that Sabah is still dealing with the repercussions of Project IC, which he said has caused many social problems in the state.
Project IC is an alleged scheme in which hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants were said to have been given identity cards on the promise that they would vote for Barisan Nasional (BN).
With the proposed changes to citizenship laws, Riduan said, he hoped that the government would ensure that there are mechanisms to investigate suspicious citizenship applications.
“We don’t want these amendments to allow loopholes so that the next generation in Peninsular Malaysia wouldn’t have to face issues like we did in Sabah (because of Project IC),” Riduan said.
Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan (Keningau-GRS), also touched on Project IC, highlighting that the alleged programme which was the subject of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in 2012, changed the demographics of Sabah.
Kitingan said the programme saw 1.5 million previously undocumented migrants in Sabah receiving citizenship and matched the population of natives in the state.
“Because of the RCI, we discovered that illegal immigrants are using fake identity cards (IC).
“For example, one individual was working as a teacher for 29 years with a fake IC,” Kitingan added.
Did the federal consult Sabah, Sarawak before constitutional amendments?
Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau (Tuaran-PH) suggested that the majority of constitutional amendments – which has been done more than 50 times since Malaya’s formation – were all done in a reactionary manner.
He also pointed out that some amendments were made without consulting the Sabah and Sarawak state governments, adding that many of these rushed legislative changes later resulted in various issues.
“I want to recommend that every time we amend the constitution, it must be mandatory for the bill to be recommended to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee led by all the parties in the Dewan Rakyat.
“We don’t have to rush things, if not we’d have to keep amending our constitution,” Tangau told Parliament today.
Vivian Wong Shir Yee (Sandakan-PH) also took the opportunity to express her concern for illegal immigrants and stateless individuals in Sabah, given that the constitutional amendments failed to address these issues.
Citing data from the Home Ministry, Yee said that there are over 136,000 individuals in Sabah holding IMM13 and “Burung-Burung cards”.
The IMM13 is a document issued to Filipino citizens with refugee status in Sabah and Labuan, while the Burung-Burung card was given to transient migrants when a state census was conducted.
“Can the Home Ministry let us know what are the status of these individuals? Are they allowed to work and go to school?” Yee asked.
Yesterday, Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Kota Belud-Warisan), echoed similar sentiments during citizenship amendment debates, stating that undocumented children in Sabah who are awaiting their citizenship process should be allowed to sit for government examinations, and their results should be recognised for entry into public universities.
She said that citizenship issues in Sabah are different compared to West Malaysia, given stateless children have been affected because their parents failed to register their marriages.
Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal (Semporna-Warisan), also yesterday questioned whether Putrajaya consulted the Borneo state governments before spearheading the constitutional amendments pointing out that their approval is a requirement laid out in the Federal Constitution under Article 161E (2). – October 17, 2024
