Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said Wednesday the government was to launch a massive crackdown on illegal immigrants in the eastern state of Sabah on the island of Borneo.

Najib said police would work at nabbing those without valid personal identification documents.

"We will deport them to the country that is willing to accept them," he said, following a special cabinet meeting on the problem of illegal migrants in Sabah.

The state is home to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, mostly from neighbouring Philippines.

Najib, who is also defence minister, was quoted by the official Bernama news agency as saying that 300,000 illegal immigrants have been deported from the state this year.

The problem of illegal migrants in the state had reached a "critical" level, he said, adding that many of the foreigners have been living in Sabah for decades.

The government's pledge to crack down on migrants came amid criticism that the problem had been ignored for too long and turned into a serious issue.

Last week, a Sabah party member of the ruling coalition announced to table a motion of no-confidence in parliament against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Among the reasons cited for the rare show of rebellion was the apparent refusal of the government to address and solve the problem of the increasing number of illegal migrants in the state. (dpa)