KOTA KINABALU: NGO Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah (APS) fully supports the proposal by Sabah police to blacklist and prevent non-Sabahan individuals with criminal records, including those detained under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca), from entering Sabah.
Its Vice President, Paul Kadau, said the State Government should also support this proposal because it is for the sake of the wellbeing of all Sabahans, and for continued peace and harmony in the State.
“APS wants the Government to stop allowing non-Sabahan individuals with criminal records from entering Sabah, including those banished to this State from other states in the country.
“All those non-Sabahans with criminal records who are presently living in Sabah must also be investigated and then sent back to their respective state of origin, or maybe sent them to an island somewhere, to prevent them from starting over with their criminal activities or influence the locals to commit crimes in Sabah,” he said in a statement Saturday.
Paul was responding to State Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali who said on Dec 29 the said proposal would be discussed with the State Government and refined before implementation.
Hazani said the State has its own immigration powers to blacklist or expel individuals, especially immigrants who have documents such as IMM3 who have criminal records.
There needs to be a review of the law, which would allow for non-Sabahans with criminal records to be expelled from the State, he said.
Hazani said the police would also propose blacklisting and expelling foreigners such as those with IMM13 refugee passes, who are convicted of certain types of crimes.
This comes after an armed riot on Dec 19, involving a group of drunk men and two men who were banished to Sabah from Peninsular Malaysia. The incident resulted in the death of a local man in Beaufort.
The main suspect, whom he identified as Hobalan N. Vello, also known as Jimmy Black, 37, is still in hiding, he said, adding eight others who had been nabbed have been charged in court for armed rioting.
Banishment of individuals from other states to Sabah must be stopped immediately, said Paul, adding APS also wants the police to review, refine and tighten the banishment practise.
“This is important to us, to prevent peace-loving Sabahans from being influenced or drawn into crime by such individuals (who were banished from other states to Sabah). To have such individuals living in the rural areas in Sabah would be very dangerous as it is easier for them to move around and do what they like undetected, including committing crimes,” he said.
Sabahans also do not want a recurrence of the Dec 19’s incident, he added.-pr/BNN
