The presence of a large number of illegal immigrants in Sabah continues to have far reaching implications on the security of the state and nation, a human rights official said.

Despite the recent amnesty and the operations to hunt down illegal migrants, the number remaining is still high, said Simon Sipuan, deputy chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

He estimated illegal immigrants in Sabah at between 500,000 and one million, or as high as one-third of the state's three million population. The majority of them are from Indonesia and the Philippines.

"It is extremely difficult to say exactly how many illegal immigrants there are in Sabah but the figure is still very high," he said.

Many of them have been in the state for a long time, either working in construction or plantation or as domestic maids, and many of them have raised their families in the state too and are familiar with local cultures and customs, he added.

Sipaun claimed that some of them even had MyKads (Malaysian identity cards) but he did not know how this came about.

"With the MyKads, they are able to travel freely to Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak," he said.

Touchy issue

Sipuan, who was state secretary from 1988 to 1992, said the issue of illegal immigrants was a touchy one among political parties in Sabah.

"When Suhakam was recently involved in efforts to look at the conditions of some in detention centres before they were sent home, the human rights organisation came under fire," he said.

Sipaun said the state government itself could not do much about the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah as the police, military and immigration departments are all under federal jurisdiction.

"But more serious efforts are needed to tackle the problem in Sabah," he added.