He said the Covid-19 pandemic had highlighted the presence of millions of these illegals and unlawful foreigners in Malaysia.

“These foreigners in Malaysia have been receiving much media coverage and have been the target of social media users recently.

“The spread of the Covid-19 virus amid the movement control order (MCO) has highlighted the problem of illegal immigrants and foreigners who have sneaked into the country.

“There has been a backlash against these foreigners,” he said here today.

The federal deputy tourism, arts and culture minister cited instances of police thwarting the entry of illegal immigrants on the east coast of Sabah and reports of boats full of Rohingya being blocked from landing by the maritime authorities in Langkawi recently.

Jeffrey noted that Malaysians’ sympathy for the plight of refugees eroded when reports surfaced of them being infected by Covid-19 and infecting locals.

Jeffrey said in Sabah, the presence of illegals was compounded by policies by the Warisan-led Sabah government which seemed to favour them.

He said the government had also gone to the extent of offering them an island and a temporary Sabah pass, an idea which was abandoned later following strong opposition.

The Keningau MP said numerous cases of fires involving illegal immigrant colonies had also happened, where belongings were saved but ironically their MyKads were lost in these fires.

However, such incidents were followed by federal agencies, such as the National Registration Department, being deployed to process and hand out fresh Mykad, led by the Warisan leaders, he said.

“These policies of welcoming illegals are totally unacceptable.”

Jeffrey said he planned to hold a forum in Kota Kinabalu after the end of the MCO to seek views from all stakeholders on how to resolve the illegal immigrant problem in the state.

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