KOTA KINABALU, April 21 — Opposition MP Chan Foong Hin lauded the state government’s efforts to resolve the issue of undocumented migrants or statelessness in Sabah with its report that is said will be released next month.
The Kota Kinabalu MP and national policy chief said that a solution was long overdue and also called on deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan — who was handling the report — to specifically address the issue of Pala’u street children and respond to Suhakam’s findings.
“I would like to urge Kitingan to no longer wait and immediately start to engage with all Sabah members of Parliament and Sabah assemblymen on the issue of undocumented migrants and stateless people, regardless of political party.
“We, in the Democratic Action Party (DAP), are ready to provide our input to resolve the matter once and for all,” he said.
His statement comes after the circulation of a video clip, showing unidentified children placing screws on the road leading to the Pasar Filipina near the Kota Kinabalu Central Market.
It is widely believed that the act was to puncture car tyres in a bid to open up an opportunity to ask for money.
“I believe that these children are from the Pala’u community, most of whom were previously sea nomads and are stateless. These Pala’u children have been seen roaming the city centre in Kota Kinabalu for years.
“These children may knock on car windows begging for money now, but they may end up committing other crimes or social ills — the recent incident of placing screws on the road is one good example — as they grow up in the wrong environment without proper education,” said Chan.
He welcomed a statement by Kitingan recently, saying that the special committee on undocumented foreign workers and foreign nationals in Sabah will present a preliminary report on statelessness — which would include solutions to the decades-long issue.
“Kitingan remarked that the ‘final solution’ to the problem of illegal immigrants should come from Sabahans and local leaders. I couldn’t agree more,” said Chan.
“We all know that the Pala’u community are under pressure and finding it difficult to get jobs, as they are without an identity and are deemed “illegal immigrants”; therefore, most of them, including women and children, have turned to the streets to beg for food and money. When begging no longer works, they might end up committing crimes instead.
