SARAWAK Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg today revealed that he has turned down a federal government request that the state give up its autonomy over immigration.

He said the request was put forward by a deputy minister, who had paid him a courtesy call in Kuching.

Abang Johari did not disclose the deputy minister’s name, or say when the visit took place.

“I told him that we will continue to defend our rights,” he told a press conference after chairing a Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) supreme council meeting this afternoon.

“He (the deputy minister) said it is time for us (Sarawak) to cease having control over immigration. I said no.”

The request was discussed at the PBB meeting, said the chief minister.

Sarawak’s autonomy over immigration is provided for in the federal constitution, Immigration Act 1959/63 and Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Abang Johari said he believes the request was made due to the state’s move to ban the entry of a certain leader after he landed in Sibu.

The leader is on a state “blacklist”, and is a “bigot”, he said, without giving a name or the reason for the ban.

“We have a list, and if they are on the list, they will be barred (from entering Sarawak).

“We know their background and what they have done. We don’t want extremists coming to Sarawak, and undermining the state’s peace and harmony.”

He said autonomy over immigration is needed to prevent an influx of professionals from the peninsula.

“This is the only protection Sarawak has. I have met with the Advocates’ Association of Sarawak (AAS), and they, too, are of the view that it is not the right time for the legal profession market to be opened up.”

AAS’ Kuching chairman, Sarbjit Singh Khaira, at the association’s gala dinner on October 26, said the Registrar of Societies had imposed a condition for AAS’ application to be a statutory body to be approved – that it agrees to give unfettered access to peninsula lawyers who want to work in the state. – November 3, 2018.