State Immigration Dept takes over operations of temporary detention centres in Sabah

State NSC director Sharifah Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof officially handing over responsibility for the temporary detention depots in the state to Sabah Immigration Department director Datuk Muhamad Sade at a ceremony in Kota Kinabalu on Friday.

KOTA KINABALU: The operations of all four temporary detention centres for illegal immigrants in Sabah will now come under the jurisdiction of the state Immigration Department.

State National Security Council (NSC) director Sharifah Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said the management of the four depots in Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Sandakan and Tawau, which were previously under the state NSC, were handed over officially to Sabah Immigration Department director Datuk Muhamad Sade during a simple ceremony here Friday (Jan 1).

Sharifah said that unlike other states in the country, Sabah's temporary detention centres came under the Federal Special Task Force (STF) for illegal immigrants that coordinated with other relevant agencies for the detention and deportation of illegal immigrants.

She said that the NSC on Oct 14 agreed for these four depots in Sabah to be handled by the Immigration Department.

She said prior to the NSC decision, the National Committee on Foreign Workers chaired by the Prime Minister on Sept 6 had agreed to a recommendation by Sabah's technical committee on foreign workers to request NSC to allow Immigration to be fully in charge of the depots.

"It is a strategic step as they are experienced and have the mechanism to manage such centres," she said.

Sharifah also said she was confident that the state Immigration Department would be in a better position to coordinate and improve the deportation process of illegal immigrants now.