Existing immigration requirements stay
KUCHING: There’s no relaxation of immigration procedure by the Sarawak government. The present immigration arrangement for entry of fellow Malaysians from Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah into Sarawak still stands, the Chief Minister’s Office clarified in a media statement here, yesterday.
The statement was clarifying a recent news report by Bernama quoting Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg as saying that the entry of Sabahans into Sarawak would be relaxed.
It further said that what the chief minister said in response to a reporter’s question in Kota Kinabalu recently “did not in any way suggest that such a relaxation would be implemented without thorough and careful considerations of the social and geopolitical conditions including problems of refugees”.
Part of the statement reads:
“In this regard, this office wishes to clarify that what the Chief Minister said in response to a reporter’s question in Kota Kinabalu recently did not in any way suggest that such a relaxation would be implemented without thorough and careful consideration of the social and geopolitical conditions, including problems of refugees.
“The Chief Minister clearly stated that the present arrangement still stands.”
The Bernama report said that Abang Johari had told reporters that the time will come when Sabahans can enter Sarawak without being subjected to any conditions.
Abang Johari, accompanied by his deputies Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing and Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and several of his Cabinet ministers, was in Kota Kinabalu on a two-day visit beginning Monday to foster closer ties with their Sabah counterparts.
At present, Sabahans use Social Visit Passes or passports to enter Sarawak.
