Party vice-president Richard Yong said that the Sabah IC could help to strengthen Sabahans’ identity, insisting it will not replace the current MyKad.

“We welcome chief minister Hajiji Noor’s statement during the state assembly last week over the state government’s stand on not allowing undocumented migrants, who have been fully vaccinated, to obtain an IC.

“This announcement is important for us because it gave Sabahans a hope that this government is concerned about the people’s plea,” he said in a statement.

Yong said SAPP had in the past suggested a “Sabah IC” to a royal commission of inquiry which investiged the state’s large population of undocumented migrants.

He said the Sabah IC could be used as a public document reference in the future, and help to counter-effect the results of the federal government’s “Project IC” programme of the 1980s.

“Project IC” was alleged to have been a secret programme to grant citizenship to undocumented migrants by the thousands. He said it was deemed as something unpleasant which had “destroyed” Sabah.

“According to several reports, it is believed that a large proportion of the 3.9 million Sabahans were undocumented migrants. This figure is shocking,” Yong said.

He also said the “Sabah IC”, if implemented, will guarantee Sabahans’ rights and autonomy under the Malaysia Agreement. “It can be used as an official document for land, education, scholarship, and business ownership matters,” Yong added.