Immigrants who have illegally obtained citizenship are the ones who will cause Sabah to secede from Malaysia, a former Sabah senator believes.

Dr Chong Eng Leong said while some locals are calling for secession, it is actually the benefactors of Project IC who will break the state from Malaysia.

“I fear that one day, Sabah will be out of Malaysia, not because of us (Sabahans), but because of them (the immigrants). A reverse takeover,” Chong said at a forum on Sabah's illegal immigrants in Kuala Lumpur last night.

Four Sabahans were charged with sedition yesterday, for possessing material linked to the Sabah Sarawak Keluar Malaysia (Sabah Sarawak Leave Malaysia) website.

However, Chong ( left ) believes that most Sabahans do not want to leave the Federation of Malaysia.

“The real local Sabahan will not secede from Malaysia. There are a few who are trying, but we worry that the 'not real ones'  will (carry out) a reverse takeover,” he told reporters after his talk.

It has been claimed that federal agencies and Umno leaders issued citizenship to immigrants in exchange for votes to oust political opponents in the state under the Project IC.

Under the project, Chong said, Sabah's Malay population rose by a whopping 2,061 percent from almost 18,000 in 1970, to 398,000 in 2010.

Chong, who was a witness in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Project IC, believes there are currently only 1.8 million real Sabahans, with 800,000 illegal immigrants living in the state, of whom 500,000 have the MyKad.

Immigrants may turn tide against BN

To remedy the situation, Chong said, the state administration must show political will and boot out the illegal immigrants, even if it may not be humanitarian to do so.

“If you have one pill that can save a life, will you give it to a foreigner or one of your own?” he asked the crowd at the forum organised by the DAP.

Another speaker, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, called for a solution to the problem that would appeal to both Sabahans and the immigrants who now call the state “home”.

Rafizi said the immigrants might even help turn the tide against BN in the state.

“They might (vote for Pakatan), because they suffer, just like everyone else... When I go and campaign, even they say BN is horrible,” he told reporters after the forum.

Earlier, Rafizi told the crowd that Sabah's problems must be dealt with, before it leads to other problems such as poverty, lack of education and rise in crime.

“Sabah can be a ticking time bomb... such a society with limited resources, a population boom, unclear programmes, animosity and anxiety... is obviously the kind of recipe that can cause havoc in society,” he said.

He added the Sabah problem must be re-framed into a Malaysian problem, because these problems could occur in the other states as well.

Echoing this, forum moderator Sangeet Kaur Deo said the issue of immigrants being given citizenship and the right to vote was why BN continued to stay in power.

“This manipulation of the people there is what is resulting in the number of seats for BN in Parliament, it is what is resulting in us having a minority government, and that is how it affects us,” Sangeet said in her closing remarks.

'Breaking oath cause of Malaysia's bad luck'

Some 50 people attended the forum, which sought to educate West Malaysians on the illegal immigration problem in Sabah.

Besides Chong and Rafizi, other speakers were Kota Kinabalu MP Jimmy Wong, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, and former Finance Ministry political secretary Peter Saili.

Peter who represented Sabah's Orang Asal community, claimed Malaysia has been cursed with bad luck because the federal government did not honour its promise to the peoples in the interiors of Sabah.

"There must be a reason why Malaysia has bad luck... even the plane (MAS flight MH370)... you don't know where it went," he said.

Peter claimed that the federal the government had broken its promise, etched into the Keningau Oath Stone, which guarantees protection for the religious freedom, land rights and customs of Sabahans.

"The oath stone is not a monument. If you believe it or not, if you do something wrong, the oath stone will (place) a curse (on you)," he said.