A major signature drive is underway to back an appeal to the federal government to examine the influx of illegal immigrants into Sabah and the ease with which many of them have obtained identity cards.

The petition, which seeks the creation of a royal commission of inquiry, is spearheaded by the Sabah-based NGO Patriotic Citizens Forum in Identity Cards (Pacific).

Prof Dr Hamdan Adnan, a commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, officiated at the event in Kota Kinabalu this afternoon, alongside a seminar in conjunction with World Consumer Rights Day.

Pacific secretary and organising chairperson Joshua Kong told malaysiakini that the signature drive would involved all Malaysians, in particular those living in Sabah and Sarawak, in response to "the growing seriousness" of the problem.

With a target of 200,000 signatures, the petition will accompany a memorandum highlighting problems associated with the large number of illegal immigrants.

There will also be proposals to tackle the situation, with public opinion leaning towards stronger action on all fronts, including repatriating them.

A major area of contention is the issuance of identity cards (ICs) to this group, known locally as pendatang tampi ijin (illegal immigrants, PTI).

Unofficial estimates put the state's population at four million, of which half are said to be illegal immigrants. One million of them are said to be in possession of bona fide ICs.

"One of the main objectives of the proposed royal commission of inquiry would be to get to the bottom of the matter - why and how ICs were issued to such people," said Consumer Association of Sabah and Labuan Federal Territory president Patrick Sindu, a prime mover of the campaign.

"If we don't do something about it, what will happen to Sabah and Malaysia?"

The campaign, however, hit an immediate snag when several local NGOs backed out of their earlier pledge to support it.

Memo to King

Kong said the memorandum is expected to be submitted to the King during the National Day celebrations in Sabah in August.

He said this has become a national issue that "affects every citizen" in that national sovereignty and security are involved.

Some local politicians, he alleged have made use of the presence of illegal immigrants for short-term advantage "without considering the future effects on Sabah and Malaysia".

Hamdan, who referred to the situation in his speech, said it was important to find out how foreigners "who arrived only yesterday are able to obtain a MyKad today".

If they use the IC to vote, they could elect the government, he said, and there may even come a day when they engineer a reverse takeover, borrowing corporate terminology.

This was indirect reference to the fact that there have been overlapping claims on Sabah by Malaysia and the Philippines, a matter that has caused friction between the two governments in the past.

Former Sabah deputy chief minister Tham Nyit Shen was today quoted in the Borneo Post as saying that the issue of illegal immigrants was of great concern to him.

He said he was frustrated and disappointed that the issue had yet to be resolved after two decades, despite weekly and monthly meetings during his tenure to find solutions.

Tham, who is outgoing Sabah Progressive Party deputy president, said both internal and external factors were at work, including instability in the Philippines which has caused an exodus into Sabah.

"We can just sit around, or this is going to get worse," he added.