DECEMBER 10 — The report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the large number of illegal immigrants in Sabah is finally out and the onus is now on the government to act on the recommendations of the Commission.

As expected, some people are not happy as no one is held accountable for the alleged issuance of Malaysian ICs to foreigners in Sabah through what is popularly known as “Projek IC.”

While it is important for the government to take action against those who were involved in the award of Malaysian citizenship through dubious means, it is also equally pertinent to really understand the issue that needs to be tackled urgently.

The focus must then be shifted to the large number of illegal immigrants in Sabah. Now, there are thousands — or probably more — of them in Sabah. What should we do next? If someone is to be blamed for the influx of illegal immigrants into Sabah, it is us.

We allowed illegal immigrants to breach our border; we allowed illegal immigrants to take up jobs we considered less lucrative; we rented our houses and land to illegal immigrants; we hired illegal immigrants to do our house renovation works and to clean up our orchards; and we even allowed illegal immigrants to possess vital documents that they would later use to apply for citizenship and to vote.

Many people have also laid the blame on the previous leaders and governments. It is true that they are also partly responsible. For sure, this blame game will continue. But will it solve the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah?         

Instead of delving into the past and pinning the blame on various quarters, it is more productive to look to the future and to work together to address this perennial problem.

A large number of illegal immigrants in Sabah do not possess proper travel documents. It is time that the government organises a comprehensive exercise to document and monitor the movements of illegal immigrants in Sabah. Only by documenting and regulating the movement of illegal immigrants can the government control the influx of illegal immigrants into Sabah.

Deporting the undocumented illegal immigrants will not solve the problem as this measure had been carried out in the past without much success. There have been numerous studies showing that foreigners come to Sabah to escape the poverty in their home countries.

Sabah is highly dependent upon foreign workers for its growing construction and palm oil industries. This heavy reliance on foreign workers has encouraged the influx of illegal immigrants into Sabah.

However, it must be emphasised that giving proper travel documents to illegal immigrants does not mean an automatic award of — and an easy passage to — citizenship. The government must continue to tighten the procedures for the application of citizenship to foreigners.

As the main motivation of illegal immigrants to come to Sabah is mainly economic, the government should consider setting up a high-powered committee to re-establish the BIMB-EAGA in order to expedite economic activities in the Sulu region.

Malaysia’s role in the Mindanao Peace Agreement is lauded and Sabah should be given a more prominent role in the economic growth of the Sulu region due to its close proximity with the Philippines’ territorial waters.

However, any attempt at regulating and monitoring the movements of illegal immigrants in Sabah will be futile if the state’s border security is not tightened. Apart from ESSCOM, the government should provide a special allocation to develop the border communities living along the Sabah-Philippines border.

This is important as the border communities have special ties with the coastal people and islanders of the Southern Philippines. The government must include the border communities in mainstream development and nation-building programmes. They should be given a sense of responsibility to protect the Malaysian border against foreign incursion.

The problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah will continue to persist if our focus is not right.  Rather than channeling our time and resources trying to find who is at fault, it is more productive to identify what the real problem is and a long-term solution to it. 

* Dr Arnold Puyok is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.