“The Federal Government should consider bringing the over one million illegal immigrants in Sabah to the peninsula where the industries need workers,” said Sandakan MP and DAP Sabah Chairman Stephen Wong. “There’s no need to import another 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh. The Bangladeshis are not familiar with the country.”
“The illegals in Sabah know the country and can speak Bahasa. There are so many vacancies to fill in the peninsula.”
His views were echoed by Parti Amanah Negara Sabah Communications Director Khairuddin Daud. “Bangladeshis entering Sabah and Sarawak, for example, would not be welcome because of local sensitiveness,” he added. “The influx of Bangladeshis would lessen job opportunities for locals.”
“The locals can be trained. Sabah is capable of producing skilled human resources. There are many vocational schools, training institutions and polytechnics in the state. There are few universities too.”
Instead of offering Bangladeshis jobs in Malaysia, reiterated Wong, the Federal Government should offer the same opportunities in the peninsula to the illegals in Sabah.
Wong said that what was required was a mechanism to regularize and legalize the illegals in Sabah and thereby help overcome their plight. “Taking the illegals from Sabah to the peninsula provides the mechanism to regularize and legalize their presence in the country.”
“The illegals would be moving from the Sabah jurisdiction, under the Immigration Act, to the jurisdiction in the peninsula. The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) didn’t help resolve the plight of these unfortunate people.”
Wong called for a win-win situation on the illegal immigrant phenomenon. “The illegals in Sabah are mostly unemployed as there are not many jobs for them in the state given their undocumented status.”
“It’s politically impossible to legalize and regularize the illegals in Sabah.”
The DAP Sabah’s proposal does not mean that the national party has dropped its opposition to the importation of foreign workers, he said. “DAP remains opposed to foreign workers entering the country. The emphasis should be on training our people, developing high value human capital, to achieve high income status.”
The DAP, continued the Sabahan, remains consistent on its labour policy. “Zahid however insists on bringing in workers from Bangladesh. So, if he wants to proceed with plans to bring in foreign workers, why not take the 1.2 million illegal immigrants in Sabah? The illegals are foreigners.”
Zahid has since explained the Bangladeshis would not come in one go but would be spread over three to five years but only allowed in at the request of industries. Bangladeshis were previously allowed to work only in the plantation sector, according to Bangladesh Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam in bdnews24.com, a news portal in Bangladesh. Now, according to Shafiul, they are allowed to work in the service, construction and production sectors.