KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has questioned the sincerity of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) leaders after a turnaround in their strong views on being against issuing special identification documents for foreigners.
The Parti Warisan president said Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and Sabah STAR president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and SAPP president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee were among the most vocal exponents of the now-scrapped Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) proposal when they were part of the Opposition.
But now, he said, they were among those who support and have adopted a proposal to issue a special foreigner card for migrants, which is in essence the same as the PSS.
He added both Kitingan and Yong had even held public protests to object to the PSS, which was proposed by then-home minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the previous Warisan-led state government to implement.
"But where is Jeffrey or Yong now? Where are the demonstrations?" he asked during a press conference here on Saturday (June 4).
Shafie, the former Sabah chief minister, said the PSS was to equip the industrial and plantation sectors with an adequate labour force.
"We know there is a shortage of workers in these sectors. But things were politicised and our intentions were twisted," he said, adding that Warisan was made to look like it wanted to legalise undocumented migrants.
Kitingan, who heads a special committee on undocumented foreign workers and foreign nationals in Sabah, had previously said the state is set to go ahead with the issuance of the special foreigner card for migrants, who include refugees and stateless people dubbed as "inland foreigners".
He said the foreigner identity card, which was proposed in a town-hall meeting with Kitingan on Thursday (June 2), would be renewable annually and would focus on inland foreigners.
These "inland foreigners" are Filipino refugees issued with three different documents namely the Immigration Department's IMM13 refugee cards, Special Task Force census certificate and the Kad Burung Burung (issued in the 1980s by the state government).
The issue of documentation of inland foreigners was used by their rivals, including Kitingan, as political ammunition against Warisan which unsuccessfully contested the Kimanis by-election in January 2020. As a result, Warisan ended up scrapping the PSS.
Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking said that the PSS was essentially dumped on the Warisan-led state government's lap by the government and Muhyiddin at such short notice that they did not have enough time to explain to the people what it entailed.
As a result, he said, they were incessantly criticised and attacked by their political rivals including over social media, in public rallies as well as the Kimanis by-election campaign.
"The issue was they attacked Warisan at the time, saying the PSS was to legalise illegal immigrants. They lied and politicised the matter just to confuse the people, particularly those in the west coast and interior areas.
"But in the end, they (GRS leaders) are now proposing the same solution. The difference is they had enough time to explain what this foreigner card is," he said.
Leiking said the PSS was previously targeted to replace the three types of documents (IMM13, Census Certificate, Kad Burung-Burung) held by 136,055 foreigners in Sabah.
"The question now is will all foreigners, including those who entered illegally, also be registered (and given the special foreigner card)?
"I also want to ask Jeffrey – you whacked us last time (but) why are you not asking Muhyiddin who is chairman of Perikatan Nasional (of which Sabah STAR is a component party) and founder of GRS why he introduced the PSS then?" he asked.
Warisan Youth chief and former deputy home minister Datuk Azis Jamman also said it was unfair for his party and Shafie to take the brunt of the criticism when they did not even propose the PSS.
