Temporary Identification Receipt: Suhakam calls for permanent solution
Published on: Friday, March 17, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) called for a permanent solution regarding the controversial Temporary Identification Receipt issued to illegal immigrants in Sabah.Its Sabah office Assistant Secretary, Heflin AK Dino, said the number of complaints about the paper has increased over the years."Last year alone, we received a total of 319 complaints about documents and more than 200 of them were on the Temporary Identification Receipt. All the receipt holders came to us asking what the paper was actually for since the authorities like the Immigration Department and the police did not recognise it," he said, Thursday.
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The complainants, he said, also told the commission that the paper served no purpose in putting their children in school or getting medical treatment in hospitals or clinics."Some of them knew that the paper was not a legal identification document. But most still didn't understand, so they came to us. I'd suggest that the authorities clear this matter once and for all. It would also help to prevent the paper from being misused and the holders getting exploited," he said.Heflin disclosed that the commission learnt that many of the illegal immigrants could easily buy the paper from certain individuals only to realise later that it was not recognised by the relevant authorities.
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"They confessed to have paid these individuals a couple of hundred ringgit to get the paper. If this shows they have been taken advantage of, we in the commission strongly urge the authorities to come up with a permanent solution. Whatever their status is, they're still human who have rights and dignity," he said.
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He had written letters to the Domestic Affairs and Research Office in the Chief Minister's Department last year regarding the status of the receipt and was told by its secretary to instruct the receipt holders to come personally to the "Pejabat Unit Penempatan" under the Chief Minister's Department to meet with the head of the unit. The commission was also told to inform the holders to bring the original copy of the receipt.The secretary also explained that the receipt was only a form of temporary identification of the holders and did not mean they will be fully considered for the next process. He also explained that some of the receipt holders were holding false receipts as many of them were prone to using the service of middlemen who exploited them.Heflin stressed that the commission made the call for solution as it is concerned about the human rights issues on the part of the receipt holders.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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