Identity card (IC) 'factories' are sprouting as cottage industry to cope with the high demand for fake Malaysian ICs in Sabah, claimed a Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) supreme council member.

In his paper presented at the Suhakam roundtable discussion on 'Human Rights and Citizenship - Its Impact on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' in Kota Kinabalu on Monday, Dr Chong Eng Leong said there are hundreds of thousands of foreigners without documents or with fake documents or expired ones in the state.

"The amnesty in 2002 recorded more than 200,000 foreigners without documents having left Sabah, but they returned with papers under different names and destroyed the papers once they expired," he said.

"These foreigners were encouraged to come back to Sabah because their friends or relatives had one way or another become new bumiputeras in Sabah.They came back believing that they too would get same status down the road.

"There are IC factories to cope with the high demand for fake Malaysian ICs," Dr Chong, a practising consultant surgeon with Sabah Medical Centre said.

According to him, in a High Court case in Tawau in 1995 it was revealed that Umno members were helping foreigners to become natives of Sabah.

He said it is not known exactly how many foreigners are there with work passes.

The number depends on who released the figures, he added. It ranges from 153,000 to 418,000 over the past few years.

Back with new names

But records showed that 147,000 Indonesians in Sabah cast their votes in the 1999 Indonesian presidential election.

"Again how many destroyed their documents once expired? If caught and sent back they would come back with new names. The cycle repeats itself," Dr Chong said.

The former senator also said there were too many fake IMM13 cards issued to foreigners categorised as 'refugees' or displaced people.

"Their number in the early 70s was given at around 60,000. After more than 30 years we are told their number is still arond 60,000."

Former chief minister Yong Teck Lee said recently that the number was less than 18,000 which Dr Chong described as puzzling.

"Based on 300% increase rate of Sabah's population from 1970 to 2000 their number by today should be around 240,000," he Dr Chong said.

According to the PBS leader, by saying there are only 60,000 IMM13 holders means mostly likely a large number of them are already in possession of Project Mahathir ICs.

"And we are told that there are 20,000 of IMM13 granted PR status - and this is without the prior knowledge of the Sabah state government, even though Sabah still has some jurisdiction on immigration matters," Dr Chong said.

Real losers

MP for Tuaran Wilfred Tangau, who is also parliamentary public accounts committee member, said recently that by the end of this year all IMM13 holders in Sabah will be granted PR status, without the state government's knowledge.

W Shawaluddin W Hassan and Ramli Dollah of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) said in 2002 that the IMM13 issued to Filipino 'refugees' in the 70s was causing unnecessary problems through legalising their presence in Sabah and that the real losers are the local bumiputeras.

"Yet (Minister of the Prime Minister's Deparment) Mohd Nazri said the refugees in Sabah were not a problem!," Chong said.

In many districts in Sabah foreigners, including those in possession of Project ICs and their descendants, outnumbered the locals.

"Imagine the tremendous impact not only on the socio-economic rights but also the customary native rights of Sabahans."

It was disapponting, he added, that several federal leaders had denied such foreigners were bringing many problems to Sabah, including contagious diseases.

Chong described the present situation as critical and said drastic actions were needed with strong political will and sincerity to save Sabah's sovereignty within Malaysia.