United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) youth chief Arthur Sen said the announcement also confirmed the findings of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into illegal immigrants in Sabah that there were illegal immigrants in possession of fake MyKads.
Upko had conducted its own study on the so-called “Projek IC” and syndicates selling fake MyKads and a report on the findings was sent to the RCI panel during the hearing session in 2013, he said.
It was reported that forged Malaysian MyKads were easily attainable and high-risk elements, such as terrorists, could use them to infiltrate the country and remain undetected.
Suspected Islamic State (IS) terrorists from the Philippines were reported to have easily secured these falsified documents.
A suspect, who was detained by counter-terrorism operatives, claimed the papers were bought in Sabah.
“The issue of fake MyKads is not new. Today I read that the random scanning will be done to stop IS members from leaving Sabah and I applaud this decision.
“However, I wonder, what about those who are already in Sabah? We are exposed to security threats by these terrorists,” Sen said.
Furthermore, he said, random scanning of MyKads at all entry points, especially at airports, would not be sufficient given Sabah’s long and porous coastline.
“This is why Upko Youth insists that the federal government consider and immediately carry out the process of giving out new identity cards in Sabah as proposed by former Upko president Bernard Dompok,” he said.
The proposal has also been made repeatedly by Dompok’s successor and Upko acting president Wilfred Madius Tangau.
Sen also urged the federal government to keep tabs on the offspring of illegal immigrants who were born here and those who were considered “stateless”.
“Many of them now have grown up and become adults themselves. How is the government addressing this problem because their number is multiplying? I don’t think random scanning of MyKads will solve this one,” he said.
Two years ago, it was reported that Sabah had at least 50,000 stateless children, mostly the offspring of migrant workers from the Philippines, Indonesia or the nomadic sea tribe known as the Palauh or Bajau Laut.
However, there are also incidences of stateless kids among locals, particularly in the rural areas. Such cases have been found to be mostly due to the parents’ failure to realise the importance of registering the births of their children and failing to get any legal documents for their children.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/03/20/fake-mykads-for-sale-in-sabah/
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/03/31/dompok-adamant-wants-to-surrender-ic/