After Kimanis loss, Sabah DCM moots sending refugees to third country

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Wilfred Madius Tangau is mooting to send refugees to a third country, instead of issuing them with a Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS).

This comes after the state ruling coalition, represented by Warisan, was defeated in the Kimanis by-election last Saturday.

The opposition used the PSS as an issue in the by-election. BN won the by-election with a 2,029-vote majority.

Wilfred (photo, above), who leads Upko, a coalition partner of Warisan and Pakatan Harapan, said the Sabah government needed to heed the wishes of the people.

“The current government’s intention of introducing the PSS is noble.

"But the sentiments of the majority of the people are against it. This is understandable, considering what Sabah has experienced and gone through the last five decades or so.

“Today, we are living with the consequences of the actions and decisions made by leaders, especially those unscrupulous characters of the past.

"Now we are seeing and hearing the rising sentiments in opposing the government’s proposal of introducing PSS,” he was quoted as saying by Sabah News Today.

Considering the lack of public confidence, Wilfred proposed that the refugees be deported.

“If their country of origin refuses to accept them, then other possibilities such as sending the refugees to a third country should be considered and looked into," he said.

Sabah witnessed an influx of Filipino refugees in the 1970s due to an armed conflict in the Southern Phillippines at the time.

Many of their descendants, who were born and raised in Sabah, do not have documents and are identified as undocumented migrants.

The PSS was intended as a means to address the undocumented migrant problem in Sabah.

However, Sabahans fear that this will set them on the path to citizenship and alter the demography of citizens in the state.