THE back-for-good (B4G) programme, an initiative to encourage illegal immigrants to return voluntarily to their countries, will only be extended to Sabah after Putrajaya gauges the response in the peninsula, said Deputy Home Minister Azis Jamman.  

Sabah political leaders have urged the federal government to extend the B4G programme to the state to overcome the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants there.

“We will discuss and see the response in the peninsula, we will take it from there. We have to discuss in the ministry level first before extending the programme to Sabah,” Azis told The Malaysian Insight.

On July 18, Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced the implementation of the B4G to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the country.

B4G only applies to migrants who have not been detained in detention centres.

The illegal immigrants will need to obtain identity papers from their respective embassies or high commissions before handing them over to the Immigration office for processing.

They also need to pay a fine of RM700 and show the authorities flight tickets as proof that they are ready to return to their respective countries.

Sabah Bersatu and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku have urged Putrajaya to extend B4G to Sabah to aid the state its illegal immigrant problems.

According to the statistics department, a third of Sabah’s population now comprise non-citizens or specifically 1.158 million from the total population of 3.9 million.

Sabah Immigration director Musa Sulaiman said based on the figures compiled, about 70% of the non-citizens in Sabah are illegal immigrants. – July 30, 2019.