by Amigo

A parallel can be drawn between the problem or problems facing the Malaysian government and that of the United States over what to do with the presence of millions of illegal aliens within its borders, working illegally and sending billions back to their home state — the only difference is that in the case of the U.S. it represents a national problem whereas in the case of Malaysia it is looked upon by some as a panacea to a “national problem”.

In the state of Sabah today, with the presence of “foreigners” more appropriately referred to as illegal aliens working illegally within its borders, outnumbering its citizens, the problem over time has been compounded many times over. Since its “inception” there is no government attempt to calculate in terms of costs how much it is costing the country and Malaysian taxpayers in terms of jobs lost, medical costs, education and the strain on its existing infrastructure — and the crime rate in the country.

In the U.S. even if you are an illegal alien, you are entitled to the protection afforded by the U.S. Constitution under the First Amendment; the children of illegal aliens have the right to educate their children by sending them to public schools like any of its citizens, and when they get sick they cannot be refused medical treatment at hospitals. These costs are borne by its citizens when they pay their taxes.

One cannot even begin to compare less still fathom the depth of the problem posed by illegal immigrants in Malaysia, and in the state of Sabah in particular.

Where do these “foreigners’ send their children to be educated unless they have red ICs? Are we not condemning them to a life of criminals? How do they get driving licenses to drive without documents to prove their presence? Never mind the lives lost in motor accidents because the driver is not insured. Never mind the hospitals since even its citizens are not entitled to medical treatment they could not afford to pay.

No official studies has been made to study the impact the presence these “foreigners” better referred to as illegal aliens or “undocumented’ workers, has on the local economy e.g. the impact it has on the demographic landscape of the state of Sabah, their implications on the planning and development of not only physical infrastructure but also socio-economic, all essential indicators for a meaningful economic planning under the country’s Five Year Development Plans.

On the other hand, the BN or national coalition-run government is guilty of breaches of human rights in treating its “foreigners” as sub-humans when refusing them the right to education for their children and medical treatment especially while allowing them to do lowly-paid menial jobs that locals are unwilling to do or do for the same pay. Never mind the presence of Islamic extremists and would-be terrorists among them since Malaysia is already acknowledged by many as a potential training ground for Muslim terrorists.

Over decades the nature of this mostly unofficially-acknowledged migratory but officially-sanctioned flow of mostly Muslims who may or may not be refugees or who may or may not meet the definition of “refugees” given under the 1967 U.N Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees” (to which Malaysia is not a signatory and is, therefore, not bound by the 1951 U.N. Convention), has gone from a trickle to a wave.

One is left to wonder since the BN run government based in Kuala Lumpur is aware of this problem, if it is not also UMNO-condoned and UMNO-sanctioned migratory flow of Muslims of another sovereign state into its territories as part of the national effort at Islamization – and in this particular case to Islamize what was predominantly Christian territory before it joined Malaysia in the early 60s.

In the mid-70s, after only a decade or so since joining predominantly Muslim Malaysia it was fast becoming common knowledge even then that red ICs issued to its permanent residents could be purchased by Indonesians for RM120.00 in Sabah; and there are Indonesian agents working for some Dato offering this “facility” only to Indonesian Muslims at a time when Indonesian Christians legally working as teachers in West Malaysia for some twenty years and have developed roots in this country, have had their applications for permanent-residents status turned down because they were not Muslims.

My Indonesian wife whom I married legally was called by Special Branch for a ‘routine interview’. The Special Branch officer was particularly interested in the red IC that was issued to her as he was going over it as if he was looking for tell-tale signs that it could be a ‘fake’ IC. I have seen fake ones and they look exactly the same. The government was aware even then of these unofficially-issued official ICs. Still decades later no one was ever arrested and tried for documentation fraud which is a crime in any country.

For Dr. Mahathir to say that he does not know, or is unaware of any involvement by UMNO politician or politicians in the illegal issuance of legal red ICs to “foreigners” during his tenure as Prime Minister is not only an insult to the intelligence of the average Malaysian but a slap in the face of all Sabahans.

Dr. Mahathir may not have been the mastermind behind the conspiracy to import what are essentially BN voters from adjoining territories which happen to be foreign territories, but he must have known of it. It may not have been his Project or his brainchild but it certainly is an unofficial UMNO project to which the inner circle of its senior leaders must be a party for the “problem” to continue this long and on such a scale.

We are not only entitled to know directly from the former Prime Minister but also from the sitting Prime Minister or is he going to put forward his by now predictable response of “I do not know and I am not aware”.

If Prime Ministers do not know and are not aware then who does?