A parliamentary select committee on illegal immigrants is no substitute for a royal commission of inquiry, said Upko's secretary-general Wilfred Madius Tangau today.

"Upko's call for the setting up of a royal commission of inquiry on illegal immigrants is actually to address a very specific issue and that is, to determine the truth behind the Project IC , which is also the mother of all illegal immigrants-related problems in Sabah.

sabah illegal immigrant "There is no compromise in this matter. A royal commission of inquiry is no longer an option but a necessity. That is if the government is serious in putting things right on the award of citizenship in this country," he stressed in a statement issued in Kota Kinabalu.

He said this in support of the statement by Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president, Yong Teck Lee yesterday, which called for a concerted effort to act on illegal immigrants.

Both parties have broken ranks with other Sabah-based politicians who argued that the best way to probe the issue is through a parliamentary select committee.

However, this was rejected by some as the committee is seen to be a weaker and less powerful body.

Upko, or United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation, is lead by Bernard Dompok and has three parliament seats in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Tangau stressed that just like the setting up of a royal commission on the Lingam tape, which was to address the concern on the independence of the judiciary in the country, the call for a similar commission on illegal immigrants in Sabah, was equally important as it involved the security and sovereignty of this country.

To better illustrate his concern on the illegal immigrants issue, he cited the recent news report where the Prime Minister's Department has disclosed in Parliament that during the period 2002 to 2008, there was a 12 percent increase in the Sabah population, that is an increase from 2,730,100 to 3,063,600 people.

"We need the royal commission to investigate what causes the extraordinary increase in the Sabah population.

"Perhaps the proposed royal commission could also look into the apparent inaction to deal with various police reports lodged against various statements on the Project IC.

Real threats

He added that he had been asked by the police to assist in the investigation but "up until this point in time nothing has come out of it".

He added that the threats caused by the presence of illegal immigrants in possession of dubious identity card, especially those from the Philippines, were real.

Tangau thus urged the government not to delay the setting up of the royal commission on the Project IC, as soon as possible.

The former Tuaran MP also called on the government to start investigating the claim made by former ISA detainee Hassnar Ibrahim on his involvement in the issue.

Hassnar, while testifying in the Likas election petition trial in 1999, said that he was directly involved in a government sanctioned project to award Malaysian identity cards to aliens in Sabah with the main intention to tip the demographic balance in the state.

The testimony of Hassnar was collaborated by Fuad Arif, a Filipino from Pulau Tawi-Tawi, Philippines, and who now resides in a village in Menggatal with his family.

Fuad said that he had received his IC from the Project IC in 1984.