No compromise in dealing with illegal immigrants in Sabah - Hamzah

KOTA KINABALU, March 9  -- The Home Ministry (KDN) and the Sabah state government have decided to take firm action and will no longer compromise in dealing with illegal immigrants in the state.

Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the move would include deporting them from Sabah as what had been done to over 600,000 Filipino and Indonesian illegal immigrants since 1990 until this month.

He said the state government has also stressed that all foreigners who wish to remain in the state must  go through the immigration process and comply with the law.

"It is important to possess the legal travel documents now, for the government to succeed in curbing the spread of COVID-19 by vaccinating everyone including foreigners involved in the country’s economic sector," he said in a statement here today. 

Earlier, Hamzah together with a delegation from the Home Ministry paid a courtesy call to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor at his office here today.

Commenting on his meeting with Hajiji, Hamzah said among matters discussed were security issues, especially with regards to the problem of illegal immigrants in the state.

Meanwhile, he said the state government had approved an allocation of RM500,000 to beef up security in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone).

He said KDN through all agencies under its purview, would from time to time strengthen the country's security assets as well as the government policies to maintain peace and stability in Sabah.

-- BERNAMA