Project IC
Project IC is the name used in
The alleged object of Project IC is to alter the demographic pattern of Sabah to make it more favourable to the ruling government and certain political parties, especially with regards to changing the electoral voting patterns. Former senator and state assemblyman Chong Eng Leong alleged in 2012 that there are 700,000 "Project IC citizens" and that 200,000 of them are on the state electoral roll.[4]
The project, in its widespread and intensive form, is suspected to have begun in the early 1990s after the entry of
Background
North Borneo (Sabah) together with
- 32% Kadazan-Dusuns,
- 23% Chinese,
- 15.8% Other Muslims,
- 13.1% Bajaus,
- 5.5% Indonesians
- 4.9% Muruts,
- 1.6% Filipinos and
- 0.4% Malays.
Based on this ethnic composition, the Kadazan-Dusun dominated the political scene and the first chief minister appointed was
There was even one instance of Harris Salleh openly admitting to carrying out and planning to overwhelm the demography of Sabah in favour of Muslims.[5] During the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah in 2013, Harris Salleh also stated that the issuance of identity card and granting of citizenship to refugees were done legally in accordance with the Federal Constitution and the relevant United Nations charter.[7] He added that Malaysia's first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman had announced in early 1970 that Muslim refugees can stay in Malaysia while non-Muslim refugees may prefer to go elsewhere.[7]
Meanwhile, on a national level, politics were dominated by UMNO, a Malay-based party. Both USNO and BERJAYA had worked closely with UMNO at certain points in history. In 1985, a largely Kadazan-Dusun party,
- 25% Non-citizens,
- 17.76% Kadazan-Dusuns,
- 14.62% Other Bumiputras,
- 13.4% Bajaus,
- 11.48% Malays,
- 9.6% Chinese,
- 4.8% Others,
- 3.3% Muruts.
Project IC is not so concerned with the 25% of non-citizens as this denotes immigrants without Malaysian ICs. The main point of contention when comparing the statistics for 1960 and 2006 is with regards to the sharp increase of "Malays", as well as the large number of "Other Bumiputras". There is also the significant drop in the percentage of the non-Muslim population, namely, Kadazan-Dusuns, Muruts, and Chinese. After Barisan Nasional regained power in 1994, the rotation system was introduced, whereby the chief minister's post is rotated among the representatives of the three different communities in Sabah, namely, the Muslim Bumiputras, Non-Muslim Bumiputras, and the Chinese. However, after 2005, BN decided to do away with the rotation system, giving the post to UMNO's representative, led by Musa Aman. Following the 2008 state election, BN controlled the state winning 59 out of 60 state assembly seats on offer. Out of the 59 BN seats, 32 are from UMNO, while the rest are held by various predominantly non-Muslim parties.[9]
Modus operandi
The project is a complex matter involving political parties as well as government agencies including the Election Commission of Malaysia, the National Registration Department and the Immigration Department, which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The suspicions and allegations on the existence of Project IC started around the mid-1990s.
In 1999, a petition was made to nullify the results of the 1999 state election for the constituency of
Mutalib had written books exposing accounts of questionable granting of citizenship to foreigners. Among his books were IC Palsu: Merampas Hak Anak Sabah (1999) (Fake IC: Taking Away the Rights of Sabahans), Pengundi Untuk Disewa (Voters for Rent), IC Projek Agenda Tersembunyi Mahathir? (2006) (IC Project, Mahathir's Hidden Agenda?), and Lelaki Malaysia Terakhir (2007) (The Last Malaysian).
Another witness was UMNO's chief information officer Karim bin Ghani who was alleged to have written a letter to all UMNO branches in Sabah. The letter purportedly contained directions on the handling of Project IC. Karim claimed that he did not write the letter and that his signature was forged. The judge viewed his bare denial with deep suspicion.[10]
The judge presiding the petition, Justice Muhammad Kamil bin Awang, ruled in favour of the petitioner and declared that the 1999 election result for Likas a nullity. He mentioned in his judgment that he had received instructions over the phone to have the petitions struck out without hearing—an instruction which he dutifully ignored.[10]
In 2007, the former
It has been said that the project was a secret policy of the
In response to a 2007 Parliamentary Select Committee, popular Malaysian news blog Malaysia Today alleges that UMNO had made a deal with the government of Libya and the Abu Sayyaf militant Islamic group in the Philippines to bring in 1 million new Muslim voters from Philippines into Sabah.[13]
Former
Government actions
Throughout the 1990s, several government officers were arrested under the
In May 2008, Member of Parliament (MP)
Subsequently, Malaysian Prime Minister
There has been several government crackdown operation to deport illegal immigrants since the 1990s. The latest crackdown is due to begin in August 2008.[20] These operations will serve to deport immigrants without proper documentations such as ICs or a valid work permit. It does not serve to address the issue of Project IC.
Royal Commission of Inquiry
On 1 June 2012, Prime Minister
Commission members
The commission member[23] are as follows:
- Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak
- Saripuddin Kasim (Secretary) - Secretary General of the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry
- Kamaruzaman Ampon (Commissioner) - Universiti Malaysia Sabah vice-chancellor
- Herman Luping (Commissioner) - former Sabah State Attorney General
- KY Mustafa (Commissioner) - former Sabah State Secretary
- Henry Chin Poy Wu (Commissioner) - deputy chairman of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation
Terms of Reference
There are 8 TORs:[24]
- 1. To investigate the number of foreigners in Sabah given blue Malaysian ICs or citizenships;
- 2. To investigate if the award of such ICs or citizenships were according to the law;
- 3. To investigate if those given blue ICs, temporary identification receipts or citizenships through unlawful means have been registered in Sabah's electoral roll;
- 4. To investigate if the authorities have taken any action or made improvements to standard operating procedures (SOPs), methods and regulations to prevent any irregularities in accordance with the law;
- 5. To conduct a deeper probe into the SOPs, methods and regulations on the award of blue ICs or citizenships to foreigners in Sabah by taking into consideration international norms and standards that are applicable to Malaysia, and to recommend amendments or changes to improve current practices;
- 6. To investigate the reasons behind Sabah's population growth according to the following categories:
- a) Sabah citizens residing in the state, including those given blue ICs or citizenships through birth certificates (late registration);
- b) foreign workers (including family members);
- c) illegal immigrants (including family members); and
- d) fugitives
- and to study their impact on the number of those registered in the electoral roll;
- 7. To investigate the social implications on the Sabah community following the award of blue ICs or citizenships to foreigners in the state; and
- 8. To investigate the number of "stateless" foreigners in Sabah given blue ICs or citizenships.
See also
- Transmigration program in neighbouring Indonesia
- Internal colonialism
- Demographic threat
- Settler colonialism
References
- ^ "SPECIAL REPORT: Sabah's Project M" (fee required). Malaysiakini. 27 June 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ "Proof is everywhere, Salleh told". Daily Express. 19 December 2006. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ Mutalib M.D. "IC Projek Agenda Tersembunyi Mahathir?" (2006)
- ^ Chong Eng Leong (13 August 2012). "Sabah's lingering misery over 'Project IC'". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
- ^ doi:10.1111/j.0020-8833.2005.00336.x. Archived from the original(PDF) on 26 February 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ISBN 978-981-230-812-2.
- ^ a b "RCI told 446,173 illegal immigrants in Sabah deported since 1990 to date". Borneo Post Online. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ ISSN 1823-1659
- ^ "2004 seats formula: CM". Daily Express. 14 February 2008. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Phantoms on the Roll in Sabah: Judgment by Justice Datuk Hj Muhammad Kamil bin Awang on Election Petition No K11 of 1999". Aliran Monthly. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
- ^ a b "Express reports true". Daily Express (Sabah). 20 January 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ "Harris, Megat Junid implicated In 'Project IC'". Parti Bersatu Sabah. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
- ^ a b "Stuff Hollywood movie scripts are made of (part 1)". Malaysia Today. 4 March 2007. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
- ^ "Dompok and Nazri disagree over function of integrity panel". The Star. 18 May 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
- ^ "Bernard quits parliamentary integrity panel". The Sun. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
- ^ "Kiandee stops Kit Siang's bid". The Star. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
- ^ "Sabah MPs prefer select committee". The Star. 24 May 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
- ^ "Project IC: PM's cabinet committee not new, says PBS leader". Malaysiakini.com. 2 June 2008. Archived from the original (fee required) on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
- ^ ""Goodies" a lip service to pacify people: CASH". New Sabah Times. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
- ^ "Crackdown on illegal immigrants in Sabah to start in August". The Star. 17 July 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
- ^ "Najib announces setting up of RCI to probe issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah". Borneo Post Online. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
- ^ Akil Yunus (12 August 2012). "RCI report: Corrupt officials, syndicates blamed for alleged 'Project IC'". The Star. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
- ^ "RCI on illegal immigrants". Borneo Post Online. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
- ^ "IC-for-votes claim focus of Sabah RCI". The Malaysian Insider. 11 August 2012. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.