KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Law Society is fully backing the move by the federal and state governments to introduce a Temporary Sabah Pass (PSS) to eligible foreigners.
“It is a step in the right direction towards regulating and eventually resolving the problem of undocumented migrant workers in the state,” its president Roger Chin said.
Based on information available, he said the PSS was to enable the consolidation of all the previous passes into one single pass.
“One major advantage of this process is that it will weed out any of the previous passes such as IMM13, Surat Burung-Burung and the Census Card which were wrongly issued or forged,” he said in a statement yesterday.
IMM13 was issued to Filipino refugees who fled to Sabah in the early 1970s, while the Burung Burung certificate was issued to economic migrants in the 1980s.
The Census Card was issued by the Federal Special Task Force in the 1990s.
Chin said the proposed PSS would provide additional security features such as biometrics, profile photographs and thumbprints that would enable better monitoring.
“The SLS firmly believes that if the state knows and is able to identify who the irregular or undocumented migrants are, then the state can manage law, order, security and resources more effectively.
“As such, the process and criteria towards obtaining the PSS must be discussed with all relevant stakeholders in a transparent and accountable manner,” he added.
“It is a step in the right direction towards regulating and eventually resolving the problem of undocumented migrant workers in the state,” its president Roger Chin said.
Based on information available, he said the PSS was to enable the consolidation of all the previous passes into one single pass.
“One major advantage of this process is that it will weed out any of the previous passes such as IMM13, Surat Burung-Burung and the Census Card which were wrongly issued or forged,” he said in a statement yesterday.
IMM13 was issued to Filipino refugees who fled to Sabah in the early 1970s, while the Burung Burung certificate was issued to economic migrants in the 1980s.
The Census Card was issued by the Federal Special Task Force in the 1990s.
Chin said the proposed PSS would provide additional security features such as biometrics, profile photographs and thumbprints that would enable better monitoring.
“The SLS firmly believes that if the state knows and is able to identify who the irregular or undocumented migrants are, then the state can manage law, order, security and resources more effectively.
“As such, the process and criteria towards obtaining the PSS must be discussed with all relevant stakeholders in a transparent and accountable manner,” he added.
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