Illegals: Need for better solution
Published on: Monday, December 16, 2019
By: Stefyanie Myla Micheal
KOTA KINABALU: Opposition leaders Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee of SAPP and Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan of Star both said there is no need for a Pas Sementara Sabah (PSS) or Temporary Sabah Pass due to be implemented next June for all immigrants in Sabah now holding various documents.
They said this was because the IMM13 document issued to Filipinos escaping the civil war in the mid-1970s and stopped in 2013 was already issued legally for a specified number while other illegal immigrants holding the Surat Burung-Burung and Census letters are invalid documents and must be subjected to producing passports from their respective countries as stipulated under Malaysian laws.
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Yong, a former Chief Minister and Sabah Progressive Party President also said there is no such PSS recommended in the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report as claimed by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Aziz Jamman.
“I read the RCI report when it was published in 2014 and re-read the RCI report again this morning, there is no such thing as RCI proposing the PSS. It is not written there.
“Aziz should stop misleading the people, stop telling lies. PSS was never mentioned in the RCI report,” he said to the media during the “Black Sunday” peaceful protest, Sunday.
“He should tell me which page or chapter the proposal was made in the RCI,” he said, referring to a front page Daily Express report in which Azis was quoted as saying that PSS was among the RCI recommendations.
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Azis had claimed that then Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi and former Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman had a series of committee-level meetings on the matter and was surprised over the objections, including by Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), which was part of the previous government when the committee was formed.
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Yong said about 600,000 PATI (illegal immigrants) are living here without permits “and now the government is thinking about giving them a house, a land and even a pass”.
“We original Sabahans are against the Federal Government decision to give the illegal immigrants the PSS.
“We have to abide by the law such as the Immigration Act whereby all foreigners entering Malaysia, including Sabah, must possess a passport, except those Philippine Civil War Refugees in the 70s,” he said.
Yong said now that war has ended, the rest of the PATI are considered as illegals and should be deported.
Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (StarSabah) President Dr Jeffrey said the Federal Government should come up with a better solution on the illegals.
“Among which we suggest that this PSS be replaced with a temporary residence pass given only to two groups without documents such as the ‘burung-burung’ and census cards holders.
“This temporary residence pass should not be given to IMM13, moreover they have a special permission under the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR).
“This temporary residence pass is temporary, it must be renewed yearly instead of three years,” he said.
Jeffrey also said giving a temporary residence pass to the illegals yearly should not be a problem as earlier claimed (by Azis).
“We can open a special counter for them to renew their yearly passes, we can also hire new staff to handle them.
“We hope that the Federal Government will review their decision and not take this for granted because of many protests from the people,” he said.
Over a hundred protesters gathered at Lintasan Deasoka, Jalan Gaya despite the rainy weather for the “Black Sunday” demonstration.
They gathered hours before the event started at 10am and police personnel were present to ensure no untoward incident.
Kiulu Assemblyman Datuk Johniston Bangkuai, who in the recent State Assembly sitting challenged the new State Government to include the PSS in its manifesto and to use the next election’s results as a referendum to implement it, said Putrajaya should exhaust all avenues and deport the illegals first.
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