History of the Iban people war. At this time Sarawak came under the temporary military administration of the Australian forces, who were particularly prominent in the liberation of Borneo. Sarawak got its own independence from the British on 22 July 1963 while Sabah got its independence on 31 August 1963. On 16 September 1963, the Federation of Malaysia was formed between the Federation of Malaya at that time, Sabah (North Borneo), Sarawak and Singapore. Brunei refused to join the formation of Malaysia and got its independence in 1984 from the British. The Cobbold Commission which surveyed Sarawakians about the formation of Malaysia reported a third
Federation independence from the sovereign state, which only takes care of their foreign relations and defence. However, they are neither considered to be part of it, nor recognised as sovereign or associated states. The distinction between a federation and a unitary state is often quite ambiguous. A unitary state may closely resemble a federation in structure and, while a central government may possess the theoretical right to revoke the autonomy of a self-governing region, it may be politically difficult for it to do so in practice. The self-governing regions of some unitary states also often enjoy greater autonomy than those of