By Daniel John Jambun, Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
KOTA KINABALU: Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) takes note of the recent remarks by Sabah Mufti Datuk Bungsu Aziz Jaafar urging Sabahans to adopt a more humanitarian understanding of refugee issues.
We state clearly:
Compassion and immigration law are not mutually exclusive.
But Sabah also deserves intellectual honesty, legal clarity, and recognition of its painful historical experience.
1. REFUGEES AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ARE NOT THE SAME THING
The core issue troubling Sabahans is simple:
There is a major legal and factual difference between:
– genuine refugees fleeing persecution,
– undocumented migrants,
– stateless persons,
– economic migrants,
– and illegal immigrants entering or remaining in Sabah unlawfully.
Blurring these categories only worsens public confusion.
Sabah’s long-standing concerns are not imaginary prejudice.
They are rooted in decades of unresolved controversies involving:
– Project IC allegations,
– citizenship irregularities,
– identity documentation abuse,
– demographic manipulation concerns,
– electoral integrity anxieties,
– weak border enforcement,
– and institutional failures acknowledged by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah.
Until today, many Sabahans still feel these wounds were never properly resolved.
2. THIS IS NOT ABOUT HATING PEOPLE
Sabahans are not against humanity.
Sabahans are against systemic failure.
The public frustration in Sabah does not arise merely from the presence of vulnerable communities.
It arises from decades of weak governance, inconsistent enforcement, poor documentation control, and the perception that Sabah continuously bears disproportionate consequences of federal immigration failures.
This is why many Sabahans become extremely sensitive whenever public discussions appear to oversimplify the issue into purely emotional or religious narratives.
3. RELIGIOUS ANALOGIES MUST NOT OVERSIMPLIFY COMPLEX LEGAL REALITIES
BoPiMaFo respectfully notes that the Hijrah of Prophet Muhammad SAW was a unique historical and religious event involving persecution, migration, protection, and the establishment of a lawful Muslim community under an entirely different civilisational context.
The Prophet SAW and the Muhajirun are not accurately described through modern immigration categories or contemporary refugee law frameworks.
Therefore, using the Hijrah as a broad analogy for Sabah’s present-day immigration and documentation crisis risks oversimplifying highly complex legal, constitutional, and governance issues.
Sabah’s current challenges involve serious matters relating to:
– border control,
– citizenship integrity,
– illegal immigration,
– documentation abuse,
– demographic stability,
– national security,
– and institutional accountability.
These are issues governed by modern law and public policy, not solely moral sentiment or historical analogy.
Compassion remains important.
But compassion cannot replace lawful immigration enforcement, credible governance, and restoration of public confidence.
4. HUMANITARIAN MANAGEMENT MUST STILL RESPECT THE RULE OF LAW
BoPiMaFo agrees that vulnerable children should not be abandoned to crime, exploitation, illiteracy, or social collapse.
However, long-term humanitarian management must never become an excuse for permanent institutional disorder.
The solution is not emotional denial of Sabahans’ fears.
The solution is:
– transparent immigration policies,
– strict documentation integrity,
– credible enforcement,
– lawful refugee management mechanisms,
– genuine border control,
– and restoration of public confidence.
Without trust, even well-intentioned policies will continue facing public resistance.
5. SABAHANS HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE CAUTIOUS
Sabah’s demographic and immigration history is unlike anywhere else in Malaysia.
Sabahans have lived through decades of unresolved identity controversies that deeply affected politics, governance, public confidence, and social cohesion.
Therefore, Sabahans should not be casually labelled xenophobic simply because they demand stricter scrutiny, legal clarity, and accountability in immigration management.
A society that has experienced repeated institutional failures naturally becomes cautious.
That caution is not hatred.
It is self-preservation born from historical experience.
BoPiMaFo therefore urges all public leaders, including religious authorities, to approach this issue with greater legal precision, historical awareness, and sensitivity to Sabah’s unique realities.
Sabah deserves compassion.
But Sabah also deserves truth, order, accountability, and respect for the rule of law.
“Media accounts describe “refugees” in Sabah as mainly consisting of people and their descendants who escaped the civil conflict in southern Philippines (Mindanao) during the 1970s, along with economic migrants from Indonesia.
“In contrast, “illegal immigration” in Sabah refers to a persistent and intricate challenge, involving an estimated 600,000 to more than 1 million undocumented individuals as projected for 2025–2026″.
