(Decorative Picture)
By DANIEL JOHN JAMBUN, Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
KOTA KINABALU: Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) takes note of the statements made during the recent Parliamentary Symposium on Stateless Children in Sabah.
We agree that every child deserves dignity, protection, education, and access to fundamental human rights.
However, any discussion on statelessness in Sabah that ignores the root causes of the problem risks becoming an exercise in selective sympathy rather than a genuine effort to find lasting solutions.
THE FIRST QUESTION SABAHANS ARE ASKING IS SIMPLE
How did Sabah end up with such a large stateless population in the first place?
Stateless children did not suddenly appear out of thin air.
Their existence is the result of decades of failures in immigration management, weak enforcement, documentation irregularities, cross-border migration, and various citizenship-related controversies that successive authorities have failed to address effectively.
Ignoring these realities does not help the children involved.
Instead, it merely avoids the question of accountability.
THE RCI WAS ESTABLISHED FOR A REASON
The Federal Government itself established the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah in 2013 because the situation had become a matter of national concern.
The RCI heard extensive evidence relating to:
– illegal immigration;
– irregularities in identity documentation;
– citizenship controversies;
– administrative weaknesses;
– failures in border enforcement; and
– demographic concerns affecting Sabah.
The RCI subsequently produced numerous recommendations intended to address these long-standing problems.
The question Sabahans are entitled to ask today is:
How many of those recommendations have been fully implemented?
If implementation had truly been effective, why do the same problems continue to resurface more than a decade later?
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY MUST GO HAND IN HAND
BoPiMaFo rejects the notion that people must choose between compassion and accountability.
Protecting children and addressing statelessness are important humanitarian responsibilities.
At the same time, Sabahans have a legitimate right to know:
– why this problem arose;
– who failed to prevent it;
– whether the RCI recommendations have been implemented;
– whether weaknesses in border management continue to persist; and
– what measures are being taken to ensure that the problem is not perpetuated indefinitely.
A sustainable solution requires both humanitarian protection and institutional accountability.
Without one, future generations will simply inherit the same crisis.
THE GOVERNMENT MUST EXPLAIN ITS IMPLEMENTATION RECORD
Rather than focusing solely on the consequences, policymakers must also explain the causes.
The public deserves clear answers regarding:
– the status of implementation of the RCI recommendations;
– the number of unresolved documentation cases;
– measures taken to prevent future statelessness; and
– the effectiveness of immigration and border enforcement policies.
Transparency is not hostility.
Accountability is not discrimination.
And asking difficult questions does not diminish compassion for affected children.
IF THE GOVERNMENT IS SERIOUS ABOUT SOLVING THE PROBLEM, IT MUST START WITH IMPLEMENTING THE RCI RECOMMENDATIONS
If the government is genuinely committed to resolving the issue of stateless children in Sabah, then the first question that must be answered is the extent to which the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah have been implemented, and why the same problems continue to persist more than a decade after the report was issued.
Sabahans should not be asked to forget the causes of the problem simply because attention is now being directed toward its consequences.
Real solutions require the courage to acknowledge past failures, implement the reforms that have already been recommended, and ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated in the future.
SABAHANS DESERVE THE WHOLE TRUTH
The real challenge is not merely managing the consequences of statelessness.
The real challenge is ensuring that the conditions which created the problem are honestly acknowledged and effectively addressed.
Until that happens, symposiums, conferences, and policy discussions risk treating the symptoms while avoiding the underlying disease.
Sabah deserves better.
Sabah deserves truth, accountability, and lasting solutions.
