Thursday, July 24, 2008

THURSDAY 24 JULY 2008- AMNESTY WON'T SOLVE ILLEGALS ISSUE: SUHAKAM

Amnesty won’t solve illegals issue: SUHAKAM

KOTA KINABALU:

The Malaysia Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) says an amnesty is not the answer to the illegal immigrant issue in the State. “There is no point in implementing the same ineffective system again or a system that we know has failed. It would be another waste of time and expense,” said its Vice Chairman, Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, here yesterday. Simon said the Government had implemented an amnesty system before and even extended it, but the illegal immigrants just ignored it. “And how come those who had’returned to their country through the amnesty system were able to come back? “The amnesty system should not arise., anymore. I believe the illegals do not take our law seriously,” he said. Simon said nobody knows how many illegal immigrants there are now in the State, but they break Malaysian laws, they should be punished. As the problem has been going on for 35 years, consuming a lot of time, energy and money, the authorities should implement a more viable solution, he added. Asked if the Government should take thumb prints from the illegal immigrants before their repatriation, Simon said the Immigration Department should be aware of the new and effective technologies being used in other countries to solve the problem once and for all in the interest of the country’s security.