IMM13 only for war refugees – Yong
KOTA KINABALU: Only war refugees of the 1970s and their descendants should be allowed to be holders of IMM13 cards.
Former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee said this yesterday, as according to official records, there are about 51,000 IMM13 holders.
“These are the persons who belong to the category of persons who, presumably, have been given exemption under the Passport Act 1966 (Section 4) or the Immigration Act 1959/63 (section 55).
All other foreigners who do not bear valid passports issued by their own countries are illegal immigrants.
“These should include the holders of Census cards (about 47,000 persons) and Kad Burung Burung (about 39,000),” said Yong who is also Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president.
“The legal framework governing foreigners in Malaysia are laid out in the Passport Act 1966 (Act 150) and the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155).
“Consistent with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Federal Constitution, both Acts of parliament recognise the special immigration status of Sabah and Sarawak and treat Sabah and Sarawak as ‘separate units’ from each other and from Peninsular Malaysia.
“As such, although immigration is a federal matter, any immigration policy in Sabah requires the participation of the Sabah State government.
“It is for this reason that successive State governments have had a say on the entry of foreigners, including war refugees, into Sabah.
“The recent exercise of State immigration powers in controlling the entry of other Malaysians and foreigners into Sabah in controlling the spread of Covid-19 is a well-known example of Sabah’s control over immigration.
“This autonomous power on immigration in Sabah was dangerously compromised when, in the 1980s and 1990s, foreigners were getting dubious ‘citizenship’ documents purportedly issued by the federal government.
“The report of Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Illegal Immigrants in
Sabah (in 2014) recorded this infamous ‘Project IC’.
“The granting of citizenships to unqualified foreigners to become Malaysians in Sabah had by-passed the immigration powers of Sabah.
“As the granting of citizenship is the sole prerogative of the federal government, this power to grant citizenships to foreigners who then became Sabahans has been troubling Sabahans for a long time,” explained Yong.
Hence, he said the news report that the Home Ministry was trying to “get as many of them (illegals) registered as foreigners” is positive because it means that the illegals would remain as foreigners.
Henceforth, he added the Kad Burung Burung and Kad Bancian (Census card) would be phased out and only IMM13 would be used.
“In actual fact, the Kad Burung and Kad Bancian have never had legal status. They should have been abolished a long time ago.
“When the Federal and the Sabah State Government embarked on the Regularisation Programme for foreign workers in 1996, all foreign workers must have passports issued by their home countries.
“Indonesia, through their two consulates in Sabah, issued passport to their citizens who have confirmed employment in Sabah.
“The Philippines (which still refuses to set up a consulate in Sabah) sent their consular teams from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah to issue passports to their citizens in Sabah.
“The remaining foreigners who are not war refugees were arrested, sent to the detention centres (nicknamed rumah merah for its red roof) and deported.
“As a matter of fact, many IMM13 holders have re-emigrated back to the Philippines as peace returned to their country.
“The objective of the government should be to do away with IMM13 documents eventually as the war refugees begin the process of returning to their home countries,” Yong concluded.