CONFUSING......How
is that the Sabah immigration officers can't seem to recognise documents issued
by their own department?
By : AZMAN HABU
TAWAU: An illegal immigrant
crackdown in the east coast of the state is taking a toll on businesses and
palm oil plantations here. State representative, Jimmy Wong said plantation
managers are furious with the Immigration Department for detaining registered
foreign workers for days during their operations against illegal immigrants.
“They say the immigration
authorities don’t seem to be able to distinguish on the spot as to whether the
documents the department issued to foreign workers are real or fake.
“They are detaining all
foreigners they come across for two to three days and this is causing loss of
income for the plantations as well as scaring their workers,” Wong said.
He urged the Immigration
Department to be more professional when carrying out their operations at
estates and business premises and not just detain everyone for screening, even
those who can prove on the spot they are legitimately employed.
Employers relying on foreign
workers to carry out their business operations have complained that they are
incurring losses after their workers were detained for screening at detention
centres despite having all their papers in order.
“A palm oil estate owner in
Kunak said he recently incurred unnecessary losses after his workers who have
documents were taken away for screening and only released after two to three
days,” Wong said after contributing cows to Kg Jawa, Kg Bukit, Kg Saddhani and
Kg Baru for their Hari Raya Haji celebration.
The Sri Tanjung
representative said it was appalling to learn that the Kunak’s immigration
officers when carrying out the operation could not distinguish its own
documents issued for foreign workers were fakes or not.
“The immigration officers
went to this estate and they were shown the workers documents issued by the
department during the check, but the officers still told the workers to board
the lorry to be taken to screening centre.
“The workers only returned
after two days. The estate owner said that as there were no workers to harvest
the palm oil fruits and thieves had entered the plantation and stolen the
ripened fruits off his trees,” he said.
“How is it that the
department officers could not determine its own documents such as worker permit
and passport is fake or not. Either there is no standard or are they
inexperienced.”
Be professional, immigration
told
Wong who is also the DAP
Sabah chairman said that apart from disrupting the business operations of
legitimate establishments, the inability to verify their own documents on the
spot called into question the purpose of such documents.
“Does it mean there are many
falsified documents out there? I hope the Immigration Department will carry out
its operation in a profession way.
“Ensure experienced officers
lead the operation. The department must improve the way it conducts operation
on foreign workers,” he said.
The state and federal
government authorities have launched a series of crackdowns on illegal
immigrants in the state after years of permitting thousands of them to enter
and settle down in Sabah.
The Immigration Department’s
task has been made all the more difficult as several thousand of these people
have since obtained citizenship through undisclosed means and have been used by
politicians to sway elections since the 1990s.
After years of allegation
and denials by the federal government, a Royal Commission of Inquiry was set up
recently to shed light on the issue.
Sabah’s population and
registered voters increased dramatically over the last three decades and many
locals point to political shenanigans by those in power at both federal and
state levels for the unexplained phenomenon.
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