Ahead of GE-13, BN tries to appease Sabahans over illegal migrants, Project M

The illegal immigrant situation in Sabah is so bad Sabahans themselves do not know how many of the state's 3.3 million population are Malaysians.

According to Upko president Bernard Dompok, in 1960, Sabah's population was 454,561 with 42% made up of Kadazandusun. The figure increased to 653,604 in 1970; 1.3 million in 1980 and 1.7 million in 1991.

In 2000, the population was 2.5 million and by 2005, Sabah's population increased to 3,313,000. It registered the highest percentage of increase in population with 3.1% compared with the national percentage of 2.3%.

Dompok said the National Registration Department could not provide the data of actual number of Malaysians living in Sabah, to the Parliament Select Committee on Integrity in 2007.

"And now the perception among the people is that the government does not know how many Malaysians are living in Sabah," he said at the Upko delegates congress meeting.

Dompok has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the presence of so many foreigners that has contributed to the steep rise in population.

Charm offensive

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who was also in Sabah, said the federal government would consider a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the matter.

"I am willing to accept all aspects, let's look into that. We would consider every committee report and whether the way forward is the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) or other approaches.

"At the end of the day, this is something we can look into seriously," he said when opening the United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) delegates meeting.

However, both Dompok and Muhyiddin are perceived to be turning on the 'charm' in order to appease Sabahans who are angry at the high crime rate and congestion caused by the influx of migrant workers. Snap polls are widely expected to be called in November.

Many Sabahans blame their plight on the Project M begun by ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad in the 1990s to regain control of the state after the then chief minister Joseph Pairin had decided to pull his party out of the BN.

In a massive exercise, with alleged collusion between the NRD and the Election Commission, thousands of illegal migrants were granted citizenship in exchange for voting BN.

Malaysia Chronicle