PBS Supreme Council member and Kiulu assemblyman Joniston Bangkuai told the media that while Sabah Immigration Department director Musa Sulaiman had admitted it was done to register children of Filipino refugees, his statement was countered by the Immigration Department director-general Mustafar Ali who said the department was only conducting a census.
“It would seem that the right hand does not know what the left is doing.
“The previous government imposed a ban on new issuance of the IMM13 passes for refugees in 2013.
“The ban was apparently lifted on Oct 1, albeit quietly, until videos showing the hoard of immigrants rushing to the immigration office in Wisma Dang Bandang went viral.
“The videos ignited much anger among Sabahans. It is possible the huge outcry against this exercise forced Musa to issue a statement on Oct 12 informing that the processing of IMM13 applications had been stopped,” he said.
Bangkuai said what irked the people most was the fact that the department had actually carried out the exercise quietly without making any announcement prior to Oct 1.
“Who actually started this registration of IMM13 passes?”
Since the issue is closely related to security, Bangkuai said it was highly irregular that the department did not consult the chief minister, who is the state security council chairman.
He also found the excuse given by Mustafar that the exercise was only to do a census on IMM13 pass holders in Sabah to be “suspicious”.
“The children of IMM13 pass holders need not be issued with the document. Their status is evident in their birth certificates if they were born in Sabah.”
Bangkuai said if any census needed to be conducted, the Statistics Department could assist the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“In fact, the Statistics Department conducts a nationwide census every 10 years. The IMM13 refugee population and other foreigners would have been included in such a census.
“The Immigration Department can approach the Statistics Department for information on IMM13 pass holders and their children,” he said.
Bangkuai said eventually, the refugee issue was the responsibility of the UNHCR, which had created the situation in the first place.
“Our hearts go out, on humanitarian grounds, to these unfortunate people. They are fellow human beings trapped in a twilight zone by war and politics.
“However, we must remember that IMM13 pass holders, as refugees, are not stateless people. They have a country where they can return to if conditions back home permit it.”