“We can’t have double standards,” he said. “Of course we recognise the IMM13.

“But what about the Surat Burung-Burung and census papers? Due to human factors, we still need to standardise them all.”

Adding that it was not easy to obtain citizenship, he said it was nonetheless important for young stateless people who could not be given any form of papers due to their background.

“We still need to give them an identity so they can continue to live in the country.

“If they are not citizens of Malaysia, they are still citizens of the world. I want to make sure that everyone in Malaysia has an identity. We will decide on this,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat here.

He was responding to Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Semporna) who had asked if it was right for the ministry to give the IMM13 to those who already held Surat Burung-Burung or census certificates.

Shafie said those who held the IMM13 could only number around 40,000. He added that only the IMM13 is recognised by the United Nations and immigration department.

There are 136,055 holders of the IMM13, Surat Burung-Burung and census certificates currently residing in Sabah.

When asked, Hamzah said 28,211 out of 31,494 applications for citizenship received between 2015 and June 30 this year are currently being processed.

For Sabah, he said 9,388 registrations are being processed with the ministry screening these applications to determine their status.

Hamzah earlier said that any migrants whose papers checked out and who were eligible for citizenship would be given it.

He also said his ministry had undergone several procedural improvements to streamline the processing of applications for citizenship.

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