The Sabah government has not issued the IMM13 document to Philippine nationals living as refugees in the state since 1984, said Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.

However, he said the children of existing IMM13 document holders could apply for the same document to enable them to stay with their parents in Sabah.

The IMM13 document refers to a special pass issued by the Immigration Department to war refugees from the Philippines to enable them to live in Sabah.

musa aman pc in sabah 190608 01 Musa, who is also Sabah Security Committee chairman, said the state government viewed seriously allegations that a syndicate had been issuing the IMM13 to the illegal immigrants in the state.

"As far as I'm concerned, we no longer issue the IMM13 document. That is why we are asking for a laboratory on illegal immigrants be set up.

"That's how serious we are to tackle the problem," he told reporters after closing a seminar on good public governance in Kota Kinabalu today.

The chief minister was commenting on the remarks made by PBS information chief Johnny Mositun who called on the local authorities to investigate allegations that the IMM13 document was being issued to illegal immigrants by a syndicate.

Musa said all information gathered by the laboratory would be submitted to a cabinet committee chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said the state government realised that the issue of the IMM13 document and illegal immigrants were highly sensitive and as such, the issuance of the document was done in a very careful manner.

There were 84,000 IMM13 document holders in the state so far, he said.

Earlier, in his speech, Musa also called on local authorities to improve the quality of their services as they were the frontliners who dealt directly with the public.

He also urged public officers to work closely with political leaders, especially at the district level, to ensure success of government programmes.

- Bernama