KOTA KINABALU: There is a need for immigrants in Sabah to be issued with a standardized pass or identification document to avoid confusion on their status, state National Registration Department (NRD) director Ismail Ahmad said.
Ismail, when giving evidence at the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah yesterday, told the panel that currently, immigrants in the state are issued various types of documents.
“There are various identification documents issued to immigrants in Sabah from the Kad Banci (Census Card) to the IMM13 and the Kad Burung Burung (registration card issued by the Chief Minister’s Department),” he said.
Ismail said that it would be better for the immigrants to be issued only one document and this was one of the recommendations of the Special Laboratory on Management of Foreign Workers in Sabah.
“The laboratory recommended that all immigrants are issued with a Resident Pass. With this document, they can get an education in Malaysian schools, work and stay in Sabah. Their status, however, will always be an immigrant in Sabah and they will not be eligible to apply for a Permanent Resident status.
“This is because a Permanent Resident can apply to be a Malaysian citizen but the holder of a Resident Pass will not be able to do so,” he said, adding that the laboratory had also recommended that the Resident Pass must be renewed annually.
Ismail said the state Immigration Department is also trying to find ways to resolve the issue of stateless children in the state who have been abandoned by their parents.
According to him, at the moment, stateless children are issued with MyKas, an identification document for people born in Sabah but their citizenship status has yet to be determined.
The MyKas has a five-year validity and is renewable until the time the holder’s citizenship is determined, he said, adding that the Immigration Department is now in the process of bringing the issue to the Home Ministry for the next course of action.
“These people are already part of our society and we cannot deport them so there must be a policy from the government on their status,” he said.
Ismail also told the panel that another recommendation made by the laboratory to the state Government was the need to ensure that community leaders and politicians do not interfere when the Immigration Department and relevant authorities are carrying out their operations.
This is because there have been cases in the past where politicians have interfered by claiming that the individual(s) roped in by the Immigration Department were “orang saya’ (my supporter), Ismail said.
He added that the recommendation was for the Immigration Department to issue a letter to the local elected representatives and community leaders to agree not to interfere with the Immigration Department’s operations.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has agreed to the recommendation, he said, before adding that the state government has implemented some of the recommendations and agreed in principle to others.
Ismail also refuted claims by Sabah STAR chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan that it was still possible for people to apply for a Malaysian identity card without having to submit supporting documents like a birth certificate.
“I can guarantee you that there is no way this can be done as since 2011, all MyKad applicants must submit his or her birth certificate,” he stressed.
He, however, admitted that there are still cases of forged identification documents being detected among the masses.
“Almost every two weeks there is one case of a forged MyKad or KPT found. The person bearing the identification document will usually be arrested and charged in court,” he said.