KOTA KINABALU: A youth leader with the state coalition has slammed Sabah parties aligned to Perikatan Nasional for accepting the federal government’s proposal of turning the IMM13 document into a standard document to regulate illegal immigrants and stateless people in the state.
Upko Youth chief Felix Joseph Saang said it was still fresh in the minds of the people just how vociferous STAR president Jeffrey Kitingan, PBS president Maximus Ongkili and several others were in calling for all illegals to be sent home.
“They were adamant in objecting to whatever suggestions put forward by the coalition state government of Warisan, Upko and Pakatan Harapan.
“They even rejected an invitation from Upko to discuss it. They preferred to continue making the illegal immigrant issue a tool to gain political mileage.
“Now, after sharing beds in the PN government, they have suddenly changed their stand.
“They now agree that the illegals be given IMM13. Such a U-turn is shocking,” he said in a statement here today.
Saang is the latest to blast the Sabah leaders aligned to PN over the IMM13 document issue.
Former deputy home minister Azis Jamman earlier said that leaders like Jeffrey should instead continue to apply pressure on Putrajaya, the same way they had done during Pakatan Harapan’s rule, to send all Filipino refugees and the stateless people home.
Jeffrey and Ongkili, who were among Sabah opposition leaders who had opposed the Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS), have expressed support for the home minister’s plans to use the IMM13 to replace all the existing documents, including the Kad Burung Burung and Census Certificate.
The PSS was introduced under the Pakatan Harapan government as the single document for 136,055 migrants now holding the IMM13, Kad Burung-Burung and Census Certificate.
In his statement today, Saang said Deputy Home Minister Jonathan Yassin had pointed out that the IMM13 document was not recognised by the Philippine government.
“So, how will giving IMM13 to the illegal immigrants from the Philippines solve our problem?
“What about other immigrants like the Indonesians or Pakistanis? How does the PN government plan to resolve this matter or will they be issued with similar documentation?
“Is there any assurance on the validity of all these IMM13, Kad Burung-Burung, Census Cert? Based on past experience, we know documents such as the IMM13 can be forged.
“Can the PN government guarantee this will not happen?”
Saang also questioned the lack of discussions between the PN and Sabah governments.
“STAR had planned to hold a forum to discuss the matter, didn’t they? Are Sabah leaders in this PN government not allowed to give their views or make a decision? Are they reduced to merely being ‘yes men’?”
He stressed that the decision over the issue was not for the home minister and federal government alone to make since it involved a matter critical to Sabah.
“The proposal to make the IMM13 a standard document is so vague and has so many loopholes that can be exploited,” he said. - FMT
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