Hundreds of deportees land in Zambo
By Julie Alipala
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 20:48:00 07/19/2008
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Filipino migrants to Sabah are arriving here by the hundreds after Malaysian authorities launched a crackdown on overstaying aliens there, prompting Philippine appeals for humane treatment.
The Sultanate of Sulu rushed to Malaysia to make the appeal.
Sultan Esmail D. Kiram II, who has been in Malaysia since last week, asked authorities in Sabah to hold a dialogue with Philippine officials for the orderly repatriation of Filipinos who are being deported from the Malaysian state.
Kiram said this would prevent a repeat of what happened in 2001 when hundreds of Filipino deportees were thrown off Sabah and treated like criminals.
Kiram, in a phone interview, said the deportation of hundreds of Filipinos from Sabah in 2001 “caught the attention of the international community.”
Abuses
He said an orderly deportation procedure was needed to “once and for all stop the alleged accusation of the World Refugee Group of 2008 published recently in Sabah newspapers.”
Newspapers in Sabah reported massive abuses against Filipino deportees being committed by Malaysian authorities. The abuses included beatings, manhandling and illegal detention.
In a statement, the Sultan reiterated provisions of the Manila Accord of 1963 signed by Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rahman, then Indonesian President Sukarno and the late Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal.
He said that under paragraph 12 of the accord, “the inclusion of Sabah into the federation (of Malaysia) would not prejudice the interests of the parties concerned until finally resolved by the United Nations.”
This provision, he said, is still in effect and respected by Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Abraham Idjirani, the secretary general of the Sultanate of Sulu and spokesperson, said Sultan Kiram has been visiting several areas where Filipino refugees and migrant workers are settled.
The Sultan, he said, has talked with Filipinos detained because of lack of permits from the Malaysian government to work in Sabah.
One boat
Fe dela Cruz, information officer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development for Western Mindanao, said most of the deportees are from Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan and Palawan.
“Because there’s only one boat from Malaysia, all the deportees disembark here,” Dela Cruz said.
The social welfare office also provides temporary shelter, food and medicines to the deportees.
“If they are sick, we bring them to the hospital. We also provide transportation money for their return to their places of origin,” Dela Cruz said.
On July 12, both the city and regional social welfare offices accommodated around 250 deportees. On July 16, these offices received a total of 220 deportees.
“We were informed that before the year ends, based on the DFA and DSWD advisory, we will expect a total of 12,000 individuals returning to the Philippines as deportees,” city social welfare officer Francisco Barredo said.
Desperate people
But Barredo said most of those repatriated “were returning back to Malaysia despite the harsh conditions there.”
“Despite the reality that rights may have been violated, these people desire to return either for jobs or because they were able to establish their roots and families there,” Barredo said.
Since January, the DSWD has accommodated more than 10,000 deportees.
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