WORLD IS A DIASPORA FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

By : MOHD JEFRI RADIUS

CAN we rule out the possibility that The United States of America, the existing technologically powerful economy in the world has now become one of the host country for the highest numbers of illegal immigrants upon this earth?

This guess could be affirmative by virtue of the facts that in the last 50 years, the statistics of illegal immigrants has reached the 191 million mark worldwide with the following Breakdown 40 % to Developing Countries while larger slice of 60 % had turned their directions to the Developed Countries, whereby the United States alone has become host country for 20 % of the aliens approximately 38 million which consist 13 % of its population, Europe 33 % and other Developed Countries 7 %, thus justifying the facts that the present world is a diasporas for global illegal immigrants.

The majority of aliens in the U S comprised Hispanic descendant from Central America & Caribbean countries but Mexico dominated the larger statistics in the American soil while the rest hailed from Asian & Middle East Countries.

The curious mind may ask, Why do people emigrate? Under what sort of circumstances would they end up as Illegal Immigrants? There are two known universal factors which forced citizens of a country to leave their homeland and set their foot prints on the shores of other countries within their reach.

When a country is in chaos plundered with social disorder resulting from serial outbreak of civil wars, the citizens of the country in question, would certainly strive hard in finding the means to leave their homelands, seeking asylum or safer haven in the neighboring countries as Political Refugees, so do the unfortunate people of a country with long history of bleak economic recession, caused by their governments’ own weakness & incapability in curbing the rampant and widespread practices of corruptions and mismanagement, the stumbling blocks to any country’s objective in attaining a robust economic growth, the citizens in question would eventually turn their attention to a country tagged as ‘The Land of Sweet & Honey’ located close by, in search of a Greener Pasture, the prosperity which their government and leaders had failed to deliver back home.

Apparently, the sole mission of both either The Political Refugees or The Economic Migrants to leave their countries of origin in massive numbers termed as an ‘exodus’ and ready to face inevitable consequences that may endanger their life even before their dream come true, is nothing other than to struggle for survival somewhere.

Generally, the citizens of any country would fall under the category of Illegal Immigrants within the context of any one of the following :-

a) By entering a country without authorization or inspection
b) By staying beyond the period of legal entry
c) By violating the terms of legal entry .

In the U S, the Hidden Hands of well organized syndicates involving professionals known informally as ‘Coyotes’ play their roles in varying types of smuggling activities for a lucrative profits such as Drugs Trafficking including Humans, across any point of entry found along the 3, 200 km of the US-Mexican Border Line, by trekking on treacherous bush trails or using sporty utility vehicles or trucks usually driven at a thrilling speed to evade detection from the US authorities .

Frequencies of road accidents involving vehicles fully packed with illegal immigrants along several hot spot entries en route to the American soils often makes headlines in the US Media. The aliens would gamble with their lives in this ‘risky adventures’ as they are exposed to any form of tragic incidents, but those who get through across the International Borderline undetected would form the lucky batches. The Sandy stretch of desert known as ‘Yuma Area’ somewhere in South Western Arizona has become one of the Nation’s busiest hot spot for Illegal Immigrants.

The Border Crossing Point of Entry have now been closely monitored by the US Authorities, the paradox is the smart Illegal Immigrants have found other alternative. The Associated Press Report of August 26, 2010 headline reads ‘Migrants turn to the sea to enter US illegally’. The report further described A new frontier for Illegal Immigrants entering the United States via the approximate 400 sq miles of ocean that stretches from a building on the shores of Tijuana, Mexico to sub-urban Los Angeles.“

Unlike several countries in the Middle East, African Countries (e.g Angola, Somalia, Rwanda & Liberia etc) & region of Asian with their war torn history, the massive influx of immigrants that entered the U S soils illegally consisted of Economic Migrants.

Over to the Asian continent, the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan way back in 1979 followed by a series of civil wars in the country had caused miserable life for most of the Muhajir Afghans or the native of Afghanistan.

Dramatically, the turbulence caused following the aftermath of the wars had spelt bad omen for most Muhajir Afghans, when hundreds of thousands of their populations were forced to flee their homeland seeking political asylum as refugees in several neighboring countries particularly Pakistan, where the head count of 1.7 millions of Afghan Nationals were registered and permitted to work including giving the necessary education to their next of kin at the various asylum camps within the country for certain period of time until Dec 2012.

Based on The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Report, a total of 935,600 Afghan Refugees live in Iran with an undisclosed numbers in Central Asia States of Tajikstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan etc.

The flashpoint in South East Asia had changed the demographic patterns of some neighboring countries as well, the victory of The Vietcong Forces over the US Military Forces in the Vietnam War which ended in 1975 marked the reunification history of North & South Vietnam as One Socialist Country. It also marked the beginning of the massive exodus of the population living in the once Democratic South Vietnam, fleeing the country in fear of persecution by the New Communist Regime.

The Vietnamese Political Refugees also known as the Boat People, fled their country by crossing the broad horizon of the South China Sea, Their plight had become an International Humanitarian Crisis with untold miseries, rapes and murders in the open sea committed by Thai Pirates who preyed on refugees.

The refugees had kept their escape route secret by bribing officials on duties. Most refugees would embark on fishing junks or trawlers with the capacity just enough to accommodate their families men, women and children, while the larger boat could hold about 400 people, to take them to the International waters with the hope that they could be rescued by freighters bound for Hong Kong which is 2,200 km away from the Vietnamese Coastal Territory.

The terminology known as ‘The Boat People’ was finely coined to signify the historic Sea Odyssey’ made by the daring Vietnamese Refugees in seeking safe haven which did not come easy for them, while those living far from the coastal region had fled across the border into Thailand.

Statistically, approximately 143,700 of the Vietnamese Boat People Refugees were resettled in third countries e.g Australia, USA, UK, Germany, France, Denmark etc. between 1975-2000.

In Thailand, The Land of The White Elephants, The Global Post of its recent publication Oct 10, 2009 revealed that the recent figures of Illegal Immigrants in the country was estimated to be three million constituting refugees from Myanmar (formerly Burma), Laotians and Cambodians etc. Many have sought employment illegally in the country, The Cambodians have been selected better for the rice field, Laotian in the domestic service and factories etc, while the Myanmars seek jobs which are too gritty and exhausting for most Thais.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority from Myanmar, who fled prosecution by the Junta Military Government in the Buddhist country form minor percentage of aliens in the country.

The Hmong, the minority tribe hailing from the mountainous Northern and Central Laos migrated to Thailand illegally due to fear of prosecution at home by the Laotian Communist Regime, who dent vengeance against the Hmong for its direct involvement in working alongside with CIA, the Washington Spy Agency, to resist the Laotian Communist Guerrillas from taking power in the Clandestine war from 1961–1975.

During The Bangkok Launch of U.N Report of Global Migration, The United Nations Development Programmed had been prodding Thailand to be a pioneer as part of the global push to relax the world’s migration, The Thai’s Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva has given the green light to achieve the forth coming change of policy.

Abhisit was quoted in the Global Post Report as saying “We realise that the most effective way to protect these immigrants is to legalized their status and bring them into the formal labour market. Migration is simply an expression of freedom and desire of each individual to seek better opportunities in life.”

In a Poll on Immigration Policy, 72 % of Thais had called for the government to either limit or prohibit the legalization of illegal immigrants, which showed that most Thais did not embrace their premier rhetoric, basing upon their perception that the poor migrants are often seen as a threat.

In broader perspective, The World as we see and know today truly justified the facts that it has been turned into a Diaspora for global illegal immigrants comprising various nationalities who fled their countries due to Civil Wars or Economic Hardships back home.

In Sabah, the Eastern Malaysian State on The Borneo Island is no exception at all as the controversial longstanding issues of Illegal Immigrants, comprised Indonesians and Filipinos, have yet to be settled and solved once and for all. In other words, No effective remedy or perennial formula has yet been found towards solving the massive populations of aliens in the State.

It is difficult to imagine what the situation will be like if the longstanding problem of illegal immigrants in the State cannot be solved effectively. The Filipinos and Indonesians have a long history of migration into the State. Although Indians and Pakistani entered the State freely via Labuan, their numbers are not as many compared to the two nationalities.

The presence of aliens both Filipinos and Indonesians in the State was due to prevailing social, economic and political factors plundering their homelands. Filipinos who comprised firstly political refugees made their exodus in the early 1970’s during the crux of the civil wars in the Southern Philippines, when the then USNO Alliance State Government under Chief Minister late Tun Mustafa allowed their massive entry under the auspices of UNHCR.

Although, humanitarian grounds was the factor, one condition spelt out was that these refugees must return to their country of origin once the political situation in their homeland normalized. Paradoxically, this condition had never been honored. Instead, we see more sneaking into the State, which has extensive natural coastline on the east and south eastern regions facing the Sulu Sea within reach of these people from the nearest Southern Philippines Archipelago namely Tawi-Tawi, Bangao, Sibutu, Simunul Tumindao, Omopal and Sitangkai etc.

A boat designed for Ten Passengers and equipped with 40 HP outboard engine would only take three hours on a direct trip from Sitangkai to Semporna Town depending on the sailing weather condition. Apart from that several common routes linking a group of islands in the Southern Philippines have also been established long ago with our east coast towns e.g Lahad Datu-Tungku-Bongao route and Bangao-Tambisan-Sandakan Route.

The Indonesian presence in the State is primarily due to economic recession in their country and the search for better opportunities. Those found in Sabah are ethnically Bugis, Timorese and Javanese etc. The Bugis come from Sulawesi, whereas the Timorese from Timor and Flores. The Javanese were brought in during the World War Two. They formed only a minority among the Indonesian community in Sabah and most have become citizen of Malaysia, while the Bugis and Timorese came to Sabah in numbers after the State achieved Independence through Malaysia.

It is worth bearing in mind that The Indonesian word ‘Naik Samping’ which literarily means disembarking illegally was a common term in the early 70’s, when Tawau was the backdoor entry for Indonesian. In my comment entitled ‘Hidden Hands behind the booming illegal activities’ (DE 15th Nov 2009) one paragraph reads as follows;

“Unlike the Sandakan-Kota Kinabalu Public Road, the new Tawau-Keningau Public Road stretching some 387 km, does not have any Police or Immigration neither Custom & Excised Dept built at the Mid way Check Point to inspect every vehicle travelling from Tawau to Keningau and vice-versa. Smugglers have taken advantage of this opportunity to carry out their Modus Operandi due to the non-availability of such monitoring checkpoints.”

A series of critical comments have been written by local social activists about aliens through the press to get the messages over to the leaders in the government of the day previously with the expectation that the leaders in question would be fully aware of the facts and figures of the overcrowding presence of aliens in the State.

Factually, I in my capacity as an Ex-Journalist and Former Supreme Council Member of The Sabah Murut Association (SMA) had joined the fray of Social Activists in highlighting identical comments way back in 1997 long before, e.g Dr Chong Eng Leong or Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan of PKR, Henryanus Amin of PBS, Datuk Yong Teck Lee or Datuk Eric Majimbun of SAPP, Datuk Madius Tanggau of UPKO & Datuk Chin Su Phin of LDP, who have turned to be vocal about this specific issue lately.

We thank them for their efforts to pursue in voicing similar views for the good of our State, as they for some, are duty bound in their capacity as the Honorable Member in the respective house and as citizen of this country in general, but not if it is just made for the sake of publicity to garner support for their respective political platforms speculating the fact that the general election is just round the corner and once it is over it is likely that they would keep mum or tight lips about the issue!.People will definitely question the credibility and existence of such leaders with their mingling techniques in our local political scenario.

I append some examples of my little voices made through the press previously.

a) Regulations Must Succeed (Daily Express 13th July 1997)
b) Government Should Settle Alien Problem (Borneo Mail 17th January 1998)
c) Illegal Solution Not In This Generation (Daily Express 8th Nov 1998)
d) Downside of The Zamboanga Ferry Services ( Daily Express 27th Dec 1998)
e) Repossess Genuine ICs In The Hand of Illegals ( Daily Express 18th July 1999 )
f) Role for P’sular Media In Making Federal Leaders Aware (DE 20th Feb 2005)

The fact is the longstanding problem of illegal immigrants in the State could only be solved by Federal Authorities and not State leaders by virtue of Federal Constitution. The Ministry of Home Affairs is vested with the power to look into this specific matter.

The Opposition Block has taken advantage of this situation by manipulating and harping on this specific issue as their political strategy to tarnish the reputation of the UMNO leadership in the State Government. They even claimed that they could do more better and capable of handling the longstanding problem of aliens if they are given the opportunity to occupy the Federal Administrative Centre in Putra Jaya in the next poll.

The irony is there are also voices being heard yelling from among leaders in the BN Component parties expressing certain degrees of disappointment on the present status quo of aliens in the State , thereby giving us the impression as if current CM Datuk Seri Musa Aman does not care much about the growing numbers of illegal immigrant in the State.

However, during the recent post State Cabinet Meeting CM Musa, who is also Sabah UMNO Liaison Chief cum State Security Committee Chairman, Musa elaborately talked straight on facts & figures giving details, relevant to this controversial issues and quoted as saying ‘Illegal Issue Never Sidelined’ UMNO was equally concerned with the issue as it is the ‘Mother of All Problems’ in the State and never considered this problem lightly and determined as ever to weed it out .

It is unfair to depict the Government as being ignorant towards the issue. The Government has spent millions to send foreigners caught without proper documentations in the State back to their lands of origin every year. In 2006, we deported 17,083 illegal immigrants back to their countries. In 2007 (18,707) in 2008 (19,151) in 2009 (15,236) and over 8,000 up to July this year.

So I urge friends in the component parties in BN to make responsible statement so as not to picture as though UMNO does not care about the matter. We have always worked hard to deport illegal immigrants and that stand has never changed that is the reason for the ongoing Ops Sepadu (Integrated Operations) (Daily Express 19th August 2010).

Have any of the previous Sabah Chief Ministers including those being appointed during the Rotation System, been truly successful in playing their significant roles towards solving this illegal immigrant’s issue? If ever what is the extent of their achievement compared to what Musa has done today related to the aliens issue?

The Press even quoted Musa as saying, “Tackling illegal problem is not easy,“ which is very true indeed otherwise this specific issue would have been solved long ago before Musa took office as CM of the State and the previous State leaders would no longer be busy and repetitively yelling and shouting on the same issue over and over again to the extent of finger pointing the present State leadership.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed once said “Prosper Thy Neighbours” when he was in office, perhaps he could enlighten and give us the clue to this specific problem, when the deafening volumes and tones of critics have reached the maximum could be heard coming from every corner of the State touching on this particular issue. Is it right for us to rebuke or reprimand the former premier for the current state of affairs in Sabah? The logic is should we blame someone for the mistake of others? Why should someone be responsible to clear up the mess which he did not create? The people are the best judge and holds the answer.

Whatever it is, may we look forward to the optimistic assurance given by CM Musa in his capacity as The State Security Committee Chairman to collaborate with Federal leaders in tacking the illegal immigrants, which is not merely a domestic neither regional but a Global and World Wide issue cropping up in every continent on this earth vide a collection of examples given in this article.