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KOTA KINABALU, September 24, 2017: SAPP President Datuk Yong Teck Lee said
Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation Senior Vice Chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam
Thye should not be shocked at all over the recent arrests of suspected Abu
Sayyaf terrorists working as security guards in the nation's capital.
"The reckless issuance of MyKads and dubious citizenship documents to
foreigners without proper screening over the years explains why even
suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists have managed to become security guards in
Malaysia.
"Therefore, it is also possible that the seven suspected terrorists
arrested by the counter-terrorism police is only a small part of the
menace now facing the nation,' he said.
The former Chief Minister said it is generally known that tens of
thousands of illegal immigrants in Sabah, once having obtained citizenship
documents, had moved on to Peninsular Malaysia where they have assimilated
into the general Malay populace as "Malays".
"This is the blow back to the failures of the Government to safeguard the
integrity of citizenship documents."
He said the illegal immigrant crisis that Sabah has faced in the last four
decades has now spread to the rest of the nation to the extent that
suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists are employed as security guards over
there.
"As a result, our neighbour, Sarawak, has become more vigorous in vetting
some Sabahans entering Sarawak.
Yong said it is for this reason that Sabah must and should re-introduce
its own Sabah identity Cards for genuine Malaysians in Sabah. And put in
place the most vigorous scrutiny in processing and issuing identity cards.
"This is because the National Registration Department, the immigration,
Department and law enforcement authorities have proven incapable of
solving the illegal immigrant problem and the proliferation of dubious
documents."
Meanwhile, the Immigration Department believes the seven Abu Sayyaf
terrorists were suspected to have used the Labuan loophole to enter Kuala
Lumpur by air.
Department Director Musa Sulaiman said it was unsure how these militants
could have slipped into Kuala Lumpur, but suspected that they could have
used Labuan.
"The suspects could have used Labuan as their exit point as there were
previously no checks," he said.
It was reported that seven suspected militants were detained in Kuala
Lumpur by the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division on Sept
14.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the suspects
had entered Malaysia through Sandakan before heading to Kuala Lumpur. The
arrest was a follow-up operation after the detention of ASG operatives
planning attacks on the National Day parade and SEA Games closing
ceremony.
The seven have been in Kuala Lumpur since September 2015 and were working
as security guards.
It was believed that they used forged documents to reach their
destination.
Mohamad Fuzi said one of them, a 22-year-old man, had been in clashes with
Philippine security forces and was also among those who carried out
kidnappings.
The need to produce documents to enter Sabah from Kuala Lumpur via Labuan
and vice versa was waived when Labuan was declared a Federal Territory in
1984.
It is believed that an untold number of foreigners, including from the
Indian subcontinent used the loophole to enter Sabah, where they then
tried to obtain Malaysia documents by hook or by crook.
Several National Registration Department personnel have been arrested for
involvement in there syndicates.
When needing to leave the State these foreigners would travel to Menumbok
and take a ferry to Labuan as travel within a Federal Territory is
unrestricted.
Sarawak requires all passengers coming into the state, including
Malaysians from other states, to fill up forms asking length of stay,
purpose and place of stay, just like in foreign country.
They have to also produce the stamped boarding pass to the immigration
staff when leaving the state. - DE
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