Serious Migrant Problem?

Serious Migrant Problem





‘There is no denying it. It is 1998 all over again. Political situation in the country is all fluid and turbulent. When this is coupled with a downward sliding world economic trend, the result would be a recipe for disaster, economic and beyond.





I know, I have been writing mostly about politics and economy nowadays. For this round, I would like to briefly clarify my views on a somewhat social, but ultimately political and economic local issue which is swirling around us these days.





And that issue is one which is abundantly familiar to all Sabahans, and which has been haunting us for the past thirty years or so. Yes, you guess it right, it is the illegal immigrants issue. I do not intend to provide a scholarly researched piece of work here, but just some basic and (I hope) unbiased points laying out my views.





Money vs. Politics





Let’s first distinguish between refugees and economic migrants. In 1970s and early 1980s, many Southern Filipinos rushed for their lives due to rampant civil wars in their homeland, and landed on the shores of Sabah. They were refugees fleeing political persecution in their homeland, and were recognised as such by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UMHCR), which set up an office in Sabah at the time to handle such cases as well as those of Vietnamese boat people (at least those who were refugees). Refugees are clearly protected by successive international treaties, and UNHCR arranged for their resettlements in third countries.





There were, however, other groups of foreigners coming ashore to Sabah from then till now. They came from the Southern parts of Philippines and also various parts of the Indonesian archipelagos. Facing economic hardships in their homelands, they came to prospect for greener pastures in Sabah. In strict international-law terms, these were not refugees, but economic migrants, who were accordingly not protected as refugees.





Arrival by Design





And these economic migrants chose Sabah for several reasons. One was obviously the long and porous maritime and mountainous borders of Sabah, making undetected entries relatively convenient.





Another, more insidious reason was of course the commonly known attempt by certain quarters during those politically unfavourable times to modify the population and voter structure of Sabah. It was thought that since these economic migrants were of a certain background and creed, they would of course be supportive of their “brethrens” of a similar creed and background. Hence there were all these stories of supposedly illegal immigrants getting ICs and local nationality.





Open Secret





Yes, openly saying the above may get me into trouble, for it is widely known in Sabah yet rarely do commentators dare to speak it up. But just as you thought the previous almost conspiratorial reason was the main one, you were actually wrong. There was yet another, even more unspoken but actually quite obvious reason for the arrival of these economic migrants. Our local labour market needed them in abundant quantity! Let’s face it. You walk into any coffee shop, the waiters and waitresses who serve you are most probably members of these economic migrants communities. This is not to mention the coffee-makers, cooks, dish washers and sometimes even cashiers! Added to that the workers at the construction site and in the estates, and you see why Sabah became such an attractive destination for these economic migrants. They formed essentially a grey market in the Sabah economy.





Simple Math





Yes, according to various sources, these economic migrants now make up more than half, if not more, of Sabah’s population. In fact, you don’t even have to quote sources. If you just make some simple calculations on Sabah’s astonishing population growth since Independence, you would inevitably come to either one of two conclusions. Either Sabah has experienced the world’s highest population growth rate – several times that of India or Bangladesh, for example, or we have “imported” a lot of people!





But don’t forget, they came here almost at the constructive invitation of the then powers. Ask yourself frankly (as I asked myself too), when your ancestors came to Sabah a few decades or even centuries ago (there is no denying that we are ultimately all descendants of successive immigrants settling down in north Borneo), did they come with proper documentations?





Yes, some members of these communities committed very heinous crimes, but some others were quite productive in their work, and generous in their spending. During several previous “operasi” to round up these economic migrants, my local friends who operated sundry shops complained about declining business!





Switch of Allegiance





But of course there are potential threats to national security. Do not forget, these economic migrants are (or were) mainly Filipinos and Indonesians. At times of exigency, despite their similar creed with the majority community in Malaysia, there is absolutely no guarantee of their allegiance to Malaysia. As they are now making up essentially the majority population in the state, what is stopping them from one day engaging in separatism and union with their motherlands? The authorities would be playing with fire in their hands if permissive attitude is continued with respect to the infiltration of these economic migrants.





Of Street Kids… and Adults





And then there were the sorry sights of the street children’s hanging around town, hawking and begging. They were mostly the second or third generations of those economic migrants. Many of them were born in Sabah, yet because of their parents’ non-refugee status, they became essentially stateless children left to wander around town. If they are left to roam the streets since young age without proper education, any wonder they would grow up to be toughened thugs who would haunt our beloved state?





Forced repatriation is of course always an option, but it requires the cooperation of their countries of origin. But since most of these economic migrants were born and travel without proper documentations, their supposed countries of origins also have difficulties recognising and “absorbing” them back. And these countries of origins are obviously reluctant to “take back” those children born in Sabah of their nationals. You can’t just send these people by boat to international waters and push them down the seas and say, “Swim back to your country of origin!” That would both be inhuman and impracticable.





As essentially a host country to these stateless children, we have an obligation to provide at least some of them with basic educational, nutritional and shelter needs. There are many locals who would argue that we don’t even have enough money to educate our own children’s in our somewhat decrepit educational system, what more to accommodate such “alien” children?





Let the Experts Handle It!





Well, there is at least a partial and temporary solution, but one with potentially beneficial implications. There are many international volunteer and aid organizations that were more than willing to take up the unenviable tasks mentioned above. If we cannot handle the basic needs of the stateless children ourselves, then we should open the door and welcome those mostly European and sometimes American non-governmental organizations handle them. These humanitarian groups usually have the passion, the expertise and the resources to accomplish such ardent tasks, and they have done it successfully elsewhere in the world, from Guatemala in Central America to Ghana and Gabon in Africa.





Indeed, we have to bite the bullet and admit to the whole world that we had an essentially screwed-up migration policy and are now seeking to repair the damage done, and then humbly appeal for international help.





Shame in Denial





A partial solution such as the above is not perfect, but it is at least a baby step toward a more comprehensive solution when the time is ripe, such as when Sabah is prosperous enough that it would “coattail” the surrounding economies into comparable prosperity, thus reducing the incentives for these economic migrants to come ashore.





There is no shame or loss of sovereignty in admitting wrongs and attempting to redress them. There is every shame and imminent loss of sovereignty in perpetuating the wrongs and denying them.





Having worked in the humanitarian office of the United Nations, Ei Sun saw first hand the successful and not so successful implementation of various solutions for refugees and other types of displaced peoples around the the world. He hopes and is ready to help to ensure that his own beloved homeland would charter the right course in this regards. He welcomes feedbacks and suggestions at oh@ties.itu.int|||everyone is welcome to a point of view. Not everyone will agree