Monday, June 16, 2014

Updates of Sabah RCI

Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Commission_of_Inquiry_on_illegal_immigrants_in_Sabah

The Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah was formed on 11 August 2012 to investigate the problems relating to citizenship and immigrants in the state of Sabah in Malaysia. The inquiry is closely related to Project IC, the alleged systematic granting of citizenship to foreigners.

Formation

On 1 June 2012, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the federal government has agreed to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate problems related to illegal immigration in Sabah. The Attorney-General of Malaysia was entrusted to draw the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the purpose of the commission. On 11 August 2012, the government officially announced the formation of the RCI including the members of the commission and the TORs. Political commentators have observed that the RCI appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to the defection of several prominent Sabahan BN politicians, who resigned in protest only a few days earlier because of the federal government's reluctance to deal with Sabah's immigration problems.

The commission began its public hearings on 14 January 2013.

Commission members

The commission member are as follows:

Tan Sri Steve Shim (Chairman) - former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak
Datuk Saripuddin Kasim (Secretary) - Secretary General of the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry
Datuk Dr. Kamaruzaman Ampon (Commissioner) - former Universiti Malaysia Sabah vice-chancellor
Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Herman Luping (Commissioner) - former Sabah State Attorney General
Datuk KY Mustafa (Commissioner) - former Sabah State Secretary
Datuk Henry Chin Poy Wu (Commissioner) - deputy chairman of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation

Terms of Reference

There are 8 TORs:

1. To investigate the number of foreigners in Sabah given blue Malaysian ICs or citizenships;
2. To investigate if the award of such ICs or citizenships were according to the law;
3. To investigate if those given blue ICs, temporary identification receipts or citizenships through unlawful means have been registered in Sabah’s electoral roll;
4. To investigate if the authorities have taken any action or made improvements to standard operating procedures (SOPs), methods and regulations to prevent any irregularities in accordance with the law;
5. To conduct a deeper probe into the SOPs, methods and regulations on the award of blue ICs or citizenships to foreigners in Sabah by taking into consideration international norms and standards that are applicable to Malaysia, and to recommend amendments or changes to improve current practices;
6. To investigate the reasons behind Sabah’s population growth according to the following categories:
a) Sabah citizens residing in the state, including those given blue ICs or citizenships through birth certificates (late registration);
b) foreign workers (including family members);
c) illegal immigrants (including family members); and
d) fugitives
and to study their impact on the number of those registered in the electoral roll;
7. To investigate the social implications on the Sabah community following the award of blue ICs or citizenships to foreigners in the state; and
8. To investigate the number of “stateless” foreigners in Sabah given blue ICs or citizenships.

Response

Former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh testified in the inquiry that the final authority to grant citizenship to foreigners is with the federal government. He also denied the existence of Project IC.

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad admitted that Filipino immigrants were granted citizenship in Sabah, but insists that everything was done legally.

Former Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) deputy director Mohd Nasir Sugip told the commission that the former Sabah Election Commission director had ordered Sabah NRD to register 16,000 immigrants. He also added that the NRD and EC had collaborated to increase the number of Muslim voters in Sabah.

Dissident blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin wrote in Malaysia Today that there is a plot by the Barisan Nasional government to increase the Muslim population in Sabah in order to retain power in the state.


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Updates

Sabah’s ‘new Bumiputeras’ pushing out natives, behind kidnappings, says activist (15 June 2014)
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/sabahs-new-bumiputeras-pushing-out-natives-behind-kidnappings-says-activist

Fake ICs not from Sabah, claims NGO (13 June 2014)
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/06/13/fake-ics-not-from-sabah-claims-ngo/

http://justiceinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2014/06/free-nationality-express-mykad.html

Laporan RCI Sabah sudah diserah kepada Agong (19 May 2014)
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/263199

RCI sudah sedia serah laporan kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong (19 May 2014)
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/bahasa/article/rci-sudah-sedia-serah-laporan-kepada-yang-di-pertuan-agong

No action on Project IC until Sabah RCI submits findings (24 September 2013)
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/no-action-on-project-ic-until-sabah-rci-submits-findings

RCI on illegal immigrants in Sabah extended until December (19 September 2013)
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/rci-on-illegal-immigrants-in-sabah-extended-until-december-bernama

Majority of voters unhappy with ‘Project IC’ as Sabah RCI continues (26 February 2013)
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/majority-of-voters-unhappy-with-project-ic-as-sabah-rci-continues

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