Border control and patrol conducted in one of the land border sectors in Sarawak by the Army. – File photo
KUCHING (Dec 6): Sarawakians must stop assisting and harbouring illegal foreigners to work illegally in the state amid the current Covid-19 pandemic, said Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) secretary-general Janang Bungsu today.
Pointing out that the Sarawak government cannot defend the border on its own, he said unscrupulous business entities should start realising that illegal foreign worker issue “is more than just profit, but question of human lives” particularly during this pandemic.
“Sarawak government cannot do it all on its own, the state and authorities need the cooperation from all parties. Politicians from all divides should work together,” he said in a statement.
The statement was issued in response to Democratic Action Party (DAP) Serian branch chairman Brolin Nicholsion’s recent remarks about the state having not done enough on Sarawak’s border control.
Janang felt that the DAP Serian chief, being a concerned Sarawakian, should urge his DAP Sarawakian MPs to bid for more allocation in Parliament to better protect the Sarawak/Kalimantan border spanning 1,032 kilometres (km).
“On the same token, DAP Serian chairman should help to monitor, report and assist the authority by reporting any suspicious activities or in the event he has any knowledge of new illegal routes being created near border town of Serian.”
According to the PRS leader, most parts of the Sarawak/Kalimantan border are covered by dense jungles, making monitoring difficult and detection challenging.
Janang said the authorities had thus far uncovered a total of 33 illegal routes into the state, and these routes had been fortified and monitored.
“Once any illegal routes are sealed, new ‘jalan tikus’ (illegal route) will be created in a jiffy by unscrupulous people to facilitate their illegal cross border activities.
“While decision has been made for the border to be sealed, (Deputy Chief Minister, PRS president and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee acting chairman) Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing has never denied the difficulty in monitoring our porous border and has actually voiced his concern,” he added.
He noted that Masing, on Oct 15, highlighted the issue of illegal immigrants from Kalimantan entering Sarawak with the assistance of Sarawakians.
He said Masing, as the state border committee chairman, had also revealed that the state government had requested for federal budget to construct border security road over the span of 1,032km international border.
Such border security issue was brought to light following a report from the Serian Resident Office on Dec 3 that an Indonesian labourer, working at an oil palm plantation site in Serian, was tested positive for Covid-19.
Janang said the relevant authorities had revealed that the foreign worker had entered the state via an illegal route.
“It was also disclosed that he has extended his work permit until April 6 next year prior to him going back to Indonesia in March this year.
“Although he has a valid work permit, this particular Indonesian labourer has committed offences by entering Sarawak via an illegal route and abused his work permit by working for another company other than the company that his work permit was approved for,” he added.
He said this was a typical case of immigrants flouting Malaysian immigration law while local Sarawakian companies were still employing them.
“Local Sarawakians must stop assisting and harbouring illegal foreigners to work illegally in Sarawak,” he added.
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