Deputy Home Minister Mohd Azis Jamman today said police have been instructed to investigate a viral claim on social media that a form to apply for citizenship was being distributed among undocumented migrants in Sabah.

Azis said the allegation that the 'form', which was being distributed under his purported blessings as deputy home minister, was aimed at smearing the reputation of Parti Warisan Sabah, which currently rules the state.

"Recently, there has been information doing the rounds on social media that there is a form created by certain quarters who have supposedly got my blessings to collect information from undocumented migrants in order to issue them with identification cards.

"So I have ordered the police to investigate this matter... and if we find out who is behind this, we will make arrests and impose stern action against them," he said.

Azis was speaking to reporters after the Ops Mega operation in Kota Kinabalu early today. He was joined by Immigration Department director-general Mustafar Ali.

The deputy minister said the issue may have been created by certain parties seeking to discredit the government.

"We know that the opposition has often attacked us; for example, they say Warisan is harbouring undocumented migrants in Sabah. These are all just accusations to smear our reputation," he said.

Commenting on Ops Mega, the Sepanggar MP said it would continue to be carried out nationwide to ensure that the Government's intention to rid the country of illegal immigrants.

"Today I joined the Immigration Department’s operation in Sepanggar, my own constituency, because we want the problem of undocumented migrants to be resolved. This shows our seriousness to combat illegal immigrants.

"If they enter the country illegally, we will arrest them all and evict them," he said.

- Bernama