For Malaysia, the crisis is complicated by the illegal immigration of Filipinos to Sabah, whose population has more than quadrupled since the early 1970s. The Philippine government says about 800,000 Filipinos now live there.
Sabah residents have been transfixed in recent weeks by a public inquiry into allegations that illegal immigrants were handed identity cards by the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in a citizenship-for-votes scheme. Full story
