Malaysia Deports Filipino Workers

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 14, 2008) – Malaysia has deported at least 250 illegal Filipino workers arrested in the oil-rich state of Sabah, Philippine authorities said on Monday.

It said the Filipino deportees, mostly Muslims, arrived by boat in Zamboanga City at the weekend and were staying in refugee shelters under the care of social workers.

The Filipinos were mostly natives of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces who illegally crossed the border to Sabah to find work.

Malaysia has repeatedly told the Philippines to speed up the repatriation of many illegal Filipino workers detained in jails.Sabah’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Hajji Aman told Filipino lawmakers led by Rep. Nur Jaafar, of Tawi-Tawi, who visited Sabah in January to expedite the return of the arrested Filipinos.

“This has been a longstanding issue that we in Sabah have been dealing with. I once again request the Philippine authorities to expedite the documentation of their nationals so that they can be repatriated to their country of origin,” he said.

“We don’t want the social problems that usually come along with the presence of illegal immigrants," the Minister said.

Jaafar was accompanied by Reps. Yusop Jikiri, of Sulu province and Filipino Ambassador to Malaysia Victoriano Lecaros.

Tens of thousands of illegal Filipinos have been arrested in Sabah the past years and many of them had illegally crossed the island by boat from Tawi-Tawi to work in construction sites despite a strict government campaign.

Many of them crossed Sabah without passports. Others were duped by illegal recruiters who promised them work in hotels and resorts in Malaysia, but ended up without jobs and money and had been forced to work in palm oil plantations under constant fear of being arrested.

Malaysia began a crackdown on up to 500,000 illegal foreign workers since 2005 and police and immigration authorities and volunteer squads have been conducting searches that extended from construction sites in Kuala Lumpur to oil palm plantations in Sabah.

Kuala Lumpur had previously given amnesty that allowed illegal immigrants to leave the country with a promise they could return as legal workers once they received proper documents.

The government's tough action has enjoyed popular support in Malaysia, where illegal workers, who had numbered more than a million in a country of 24 million people, have been blamed for crime and other social ills.

Malaysia said the illegal workers do not pay tax and put a heavy burden on state services, such as education and health care, increasing pressure on an already high budget deficit. Some Filipino deportees said they were herded into overcrowded detention camps before being expelled and others reported tales of abuses inside Malaysian jails.

Philippine lawmaker Luzviminda Ilagan on Monday said many of those deported to Zamboanga City on Saturday had suffered inhumane treatment in Malaysian.
“The imprisonment of 250 undocumented Filipinos in Sabah was illegal. Their detention without proper trial and means is in violation of universal rights and laws,” Ilagan said.

She urged Manila to look into the poor condition of Filipinos languishing in jails in Malaysia and to take immediate steps to help them. “There were complaints from the deported Filipinos that they were held in poorly maintained jails, not given enough food, and not provided proper health care. A woman deportee even gave birth inside a Malaysian jail. Even if she were an undocumented migrant, she should have received medical attention,” she said.

In 2002, an alliance of Filipino migrant groups called Migrante boycotted Malaysian Airlines to dramatize their protests on the inhuman treatment of jailed illegal Filipino workers. It also urged Filipinos to stop patronizing other Malaysian services and to stop buying Malaysian products.

Filipino Muslims who were deported said they had been forced to work illegally in Sabah because the Philippine government failed to provide them livelihood opportunities back home.

Many also decried the discrimination in Zamboanga City where Christian employers flatly reject Muslim job seekers for fear they are criminals or had relatives in the Abu Sayyaf and other rebel groups. The discrimination, they said, was heightened after the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks on the United States. (Mindanao Examiner)