PETALING JAYA: Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah’s (PGRS) youth wing today slammed several Warisan assemblymen for linking the increase in the number of non-citizens in Sabah to the issue of undocumented immigrants, describing the claims as “misleading”.
In a statement, the wing said such allegations were not grounded in a proper interpretation of the official data from the statistics department (DOSM).
“Warisan’s attempt to distort the data clearly reflects an effort to obscure its own record on the undocumented immigrant issue. The people of Sabah do not need sensational headlines, but fact-based explanations and genuine solutions,” it said.
DOSM revealed on Dec 24 that the recorded number of non-citizens in Kota Kinabalu stood at 125,400.
Warisan’s Loi Kok Liang (Api-Api), Samuel Wong (Luyang), Edna Jessica Majimbun (Inanam) and Chin Tek Ming (Kapayan), in a joint statement, said DOSM’s figures for the number of non-citizens in Kota Kinabalu marked a sharp increase of 46,300 or 58.5% compared to the figure in 2021.
They said the increase raised questions, given that the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Pakatan Harapan state government’s policies since 2020 had emphasised efforts to reduce the number of foreign nationals and non-citizen residents in the state.
The Warisan assemblymen also questioned the state government’s commitment to addressing the issue of non-citizen residents, given the yearly increase in numbers.
However, the PGRS youth wing said the term non-citizens refers not only to undocumented migrants, but also documented foreigners, including workers with valid permits, temporary work pass holders, their dependents, and students.
“In reality, documented migrants make up the majority, while undocumented immigrants constitute only a small fraction – contrary to the misleading portrayal by Warisan leaders.
“The rise in these figures has also been influenced by the post-Covid-19 economic recovery and economic migration to major urban centres such as Kota Kinabalu,” it said.
It said the implementation of the Digital Registration of Foreign Nationals in Sabah over the past two years might also have impacted the figures.
“This registration exercise did not create new inflows; rather, it revealed the actual number of existing workers who were previously not recorded in a transparent manner.
“PGRS Youth remains consistent in its stance that issues of security and state sovereignty must be addressed through accurate data, effective enforcement and responsible policies, not political games,” it said.
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