EARLY HEADCOUNTS OF REFUGEES

PANEL.....The Royal Commission Panel from left to right: Former UMS Vice-Chancellor Datuk Kamaruzaman Ampon, former Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Datuk Henry Chin Poy Wu, former High Court Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Datuk Amar Steve Shim Lip Liong, former Sabah State Attorney-General Tan Sri Herman Luping, and former State Secretary Datuk KY Mustafa.

By AMY YEE & ELAINE MAH

ABDUL JAAFAR Alip who is the former head of the Settlement Unit in the Chief Minister's Department said that a total of 73,000 Filipinos from Southern Philipines were granted refugee status from 1976 to 1985.

Testifying on the first day of hearing of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants at the High Court here yesterday he said they were  confirmed to be refugees by officers of his Unit through interviews.

The Commission's panel comprised former High Court judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Datuk Amar Steve Shim Lip Liong as the chairman, former UMS Vice Chancellor Datuk Kamanruzaman Ampon, former Sabah State Attorney-General Tan Sri Herman Luping, Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation deputy chairman and former Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Henry Chin Poy Wu and former State Secretary Datuk K Y Mustafa.

Jaafar told the panel that the refugee settlements are located in Telipok, Kinarut, Kampung Bahagia in Sandakan, Kampung Selamat in Semporna and Kampung Hidayah in Tawau.

Secretary of Internal Affairs and Research in the Chief Minister’s Department, Moktar Yassin Ajam, clarified at the hearing today that the 73,00 figure cited by Jaafar was in reference to Filipino refugees possessing IMM13 documents.

According to Moktar, through a census done between 2007 and 2010, approximately 33,019 refugees were registered as holding the Settlement Unit'sdocuments but did not possess IMM13 documents.

Moktar estimated that about 15,000 out of the 33,019 individuals are the children of refugees, who are thought to be 3rd and 4th generation offspring of  the Filipino refugees who came in the 1970s.

According to Moktar the numbers may be larger, as there are children of refugees who were not registered when they were born nd therefore had no birth certificates. This is probably because  their parents did not have the required documentations to register their children, such as marriage certificates. (Insight Sabah)