‘No need to issue IMM13 papers to P’pine deportees’

RANAU: Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri (Anak Negeri) President Datuk Henrynus Amin (pic) said the Philippines’ willingness to accept thousands of deportees from Sabah showed there is no need to provide them with IMM13 documents as suggested by the Home Minister.

Applauding the close cooperation between both governments on the matter, he said it was clear proof that there was no need to issue IMM13 pass for the Philippine Government to accept their own undocumented citizens who are in Sabah. Federal Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin proposed recently to use only IMM13 pass to regularise undocumented Philippine citizens in Sabah who hold “Kad Burung-burung” and “Kad Banci”.

Henrynus said the assertion that the issuance of IMM13 pass to 136,000 undocumented Filipino citizens with “Kad Burung-burung” and “Kad Banci” and possibly up to 600,000 dependants is necessary for their eventual acceptance by the Philippine Government was proven to be wrong or baseless.

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“Undocumented foreigners should be deported, not awarded with refugee status to keep them in Sabah indefinitely by circumventing immigration laws,” he said. Henrynus reiterated that IMM13 is a valid pass issued to genuine Filipino war refugees who fled Southern Philippines in the 1970s and early 1980s. While Anak Negeri has no issue with genuine Filipino refugees who obviously deserves state protection, the party was against the potential abuse of the IMM13 pass to legalise possibly up to 600,000 undocumented Filipino citizens in Sabah for dubious motives. He said contrary to arguments used by PBS and Star supporters that the issuance of IMM13 pass was necessary to facilitate the deportation of undocumented Filipino citizens in Sabah, he said IMM13 is actually a special exemption given by the Federal Home Minister to allow refugees to stay and work in Sabah indefinitely.

He said holders of IMM13 pass are also allowed to engage in business, get married, start a family, send children to school and have free access to government hospitals.

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“Given the kind hospitality for refugees with IMM13 status, I seriously doubt they will voluntarily go back to their country of origins,” he said.

Anak Negeri, therefore, urged the Federal Home Minister to scrap the planned issuance of IMM13 pass to undocumented Filipino citizens in Sabah.

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