Sabah population spiked 362 percent in 30 years

600,000 foreigners made citizens: NGO demands probe

Activists from NGO Jingga 13 have submitted a memorandum to the inspector-general of police Ismail Omar demanding an investigation into a syndicate they claim obtained citizenship for some 600,000 foreigners.

Some 12 activists from the NGO, led by its coordinator Fariz Musa, delivered the memorandum at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman about 3.15pm today.

The memorandum was received by an officer, DSP N Venugopal, at the entrance to Bukit Aman.

In its demands, the group wants IGP to take stern action against what it deemed has been "treacherous act" against the country.

Fariz said Jingga 13 gathered the evidence from reporting in whistleblower site Wikileaks, news portal Malaysiakini and the portal of an Indonesian television station.

Sabah population spiked 362 percent in 30 years

According to a leaked US diplomatic cable posted by Wikileaks that the group referred to, some 600,000 foreigners were granted citizenship in the 1990s in exchange for their votes.

"...(then) Prime Minister Mahathir (Mohamad) began the initiative prior to the 1994 state assembly election in order to ensure Umno's political takeover of Sabah," the cable quotes a Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) representative as saying.

The cable noted a finding by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) that Sabah's legal population had spiked by 362 percent to 2.6 million within 30 years, as opposed to neighbouring Sarawak's, which climbed only by 135 percent.

The Sabah citizenship episode, was known as Project IC, culminated with a number of government officials, including rogue National Registration Department (NRD) staff, being detained under the Internal Security Act.

In the memorandum, Jingga 13 also called for thorough investigations into the Home Ministry, the Election Commission and the NRD over claims that there are "fake identities in the electoral roll database".