KOTA KINABALU: The decision to issue temporary passes to immigrants in Sabah needs to be formally agreed to by the state legislative assembly.
Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili said the state government needs to ensure this to safeguard the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
He said the federal government has no unilateral power to impose regulations on Sabah and Sarawak which impact on their rights, including on the issue of immigration, and needs a formal agreement from both states' legislative assemblies.
In this regard, he urged the federal government to suspend its decision to issue the Sabah Temporary Pass or Pas Sementara Sabah (PSS) by June next year.
"It must be done accordingly to safeguard the MA63."
"The federal government has no unilateral power to formulate or implement policies and regulations regarding immigration without the formal agreement of the Sabah or Sarawak governments.
"This safeguard is contained in the Inter Government Committee (IGC) under Chapter 3, Article 16 (f) (ii) which states that ‘admission to a Borneo State will not be granted to any person or class of persons, whether from inside or outside Malaysia, without the approval of the government of the state concerned'," he explained.
Ongkili, when attending a party event in Tenom, reminded Putrajaya that failure to obtain Sabah’s agreement means that the federal government has contravened the IGC provision and also the MA63.
He said the proper way to go about the matter is to get consultation from east Malaysian states by passing a motion on the issue, to get approval from the state's lawmakers during its State Legislative Assembly sittings.
"This is practiced by our Sarawak counterparts, and they are very firm issues related to the rights of the state and its people. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same with the current Sabah government," he noted.
He said important policies, such as the issuance of PSS, which he regards as a prelude to giving immigrants permanent residence status, and eventually citizenship, must be carefully deliberated on by Sabah lawmakers.
"It needs the State Assembly to agree to vote a motion. Not a simple signing in writing by the TYT (Head of State) or Chief Minister.
"This is clearly a contravention of the IGC and MA63. We urge the federal government to suspend the proposal until proper consultation and agreement, as proposed," he said.
Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said the government aims to better manage foreigners in Sabah by documenting them with the PSS, which will allow for more efficient data to be recorded and ensure more effective enforcement.
By June next year, the government will begin issuing the PSS to holders of three specific documents, applicable to 600,000 immigrants in Sabah who are without any passports or any form of papers from their countries.
The immigrants will be issued with a document that will have biometric features of each holder, unlike the present documents they are holding, if any. It will also be renewable every three years and cost RM120.
The three documents currently held by immigrants are the IMM13, a temporary visit pass issued by the Immigration Department; the "burung-burung" issued by the Chief Minister's Department; and the census certificate issued by the Prime Minister's Department’s Federal Special Task Force.
"Burung-burung" refers to the kingfisher, used as the state coat of arms, and printed on government documents in the 1980s.
The IMM13 was issued to Filipino refugees who fled southern Philippines during the unrest of the 1970s, while the census certificate is simply called “surat banci".