Kota Kinabalu: Parti Bersatu Sabah welcomed the home ministry’s fresh approach to deal with the large number of illegal immigrants in Sabah.
PBS president Maximus Ongkili (pic) believed that the ministry’s plans would finally overcome Sabah’s long-standing problem with the presence of illegal migrants.
“Finally, our call is heard, and we believe this would resolve this long standing issue. Today, some PBS senior leaders and I met Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin to discuss several issues, including matters concerning illegal immigrants.
“We also handed a memorandum to him to share our recommendations in solving this issue, which has always been our great concern since the party was formed three decades back,” said Ongkili.
Hamzah said earlier that the ministry would carry out massive operations to flush out the illegal immigrants and deport them.
He also proposed the standardisation of the documentation of the 136,055 stateless persons in Sabah, proposing only the use of the IMM13 papers to replace the Surat Burung-Burung and Census certificates.
Ongkili, who is also a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said PBS fully supports the plan.
Hamzah had earlier said that a fresh approach would be taken to solve the issue of stateless people holding various migrant or refugee documents.
He said there were 136,055 stateless people in the state and the government would only recognise the holders of IMM13 card - issued by the Immigration Department to Filipino refugees who fled to Sabah during the civil war in the southern Philippines during the 1970s - to solve the documentation issue.
