KOTA KINABALU, June 27 — Sugut assemblyman Datuk James Ratib has called on Sabahans not to believe the opposition’s claims that the federal government’s plan to standardise IMM13 document for foreign nationals from the Philippines was an attempt to issue them with an identity card.

He stressed that the proposal by the Home Affairs Ministry (KDN) was, instead, the best way to send the foreigners back to their country of origin.

"I met Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin and he explained the reason for the standardisation was to ensure Filipinos who wished to come to Sabah could apply for a passport from the Philippine government.

"This is not as claimed by a certain party, particularly the opposition, that the IMM13 is a ticket for them (foreigners) to live in Malaysia and work legally in this country. That claim has political motive and is definitely not true,” he told Bernama today.

James said that by standardising the document, the Malaysian government would invite representatives from the Philippine embassy to interview those who held any documents in Sabah, including the IMM13, to ensure they were Filipino citizens before issuing them with the Philippine passport.

"The Philippine government will interview all of them, including to identify where they live, to ensure they are genuine citizens of the Philippines. Then only will they issue the passport so that these people can be sent back to their country, or they can choose to work legally in Malaysia,” he explained.

IMM13 is one of the documents issued to citizens of the Philippines with refugee status, in addition to other documents such as the Census Certificate issued during the Federal Special Task Force legalisation programme and the Kad Burung-Burung programme from 1970 to the 1990s.

James elaborated that the proposal to standardise the documents to IMM13 was made because the Philippine government did not recognise other documents, including the Census Certificate and Burung-Burung card.

"Therefore, I hope the people of Sabah can understand that the real reason the government is doing this is to address the issue of illegal immigrants,” he added.

He said the proposal by KDN was different from the issuance of the Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) that was proposed by the Pakatan Harapan government previously.

"PSS is a document that can be renewed every three years and its holder cannot apply for a passport. So, it is different from KDN’s proposal to standardise the documents to ensure that the Philippine nationals can apply for a passport and be sent back to their country,” he said. — Bernama