Philippines agrees to accept undocumented citizens – Senator

KOTA KINABALU : The problem of overcrowding at the various immigration holding centres in Sabah will soon be resolved, thanks to the efforts of the National Security Council (NSC).

The  congestion  at the four holding centres was the result of the temporary suspension of repatriation exercises from March to this month due to  Covid-19 pandemic.

Just like the  Philippines and Indonesia, Malaysia also strictly imposed travel ban during the movement control order (MCO) period  to prevent possible infection of the life-threatening coronavirus among the people.

“I am happy to be informed that the Philippines, especially  Zamboanga  City officials, finally agreed to receive their undocumented countrymen from Sabah,” Senator Datuk John Ambrose said in a statement yesterday.

Zamboanga City Mayor Ma Isabelle Climaco-Salazar earlier hesitated  to accept entry of the returning Filipinos because of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the city.

Salazar in a press conference said, “I fear that accepting the influx of deportees from Sabah will pose danger to the local populace at the time when the city is still crucially fighting the invisible enemy”.

On Tuesday, Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque officially announced that President Rodrigo Duterte consented and directed Zamboanga City to open its doors to the deportees from Sabah.

The Covid-19 Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) immediately established a sub-task force in the city to look after the arrivals of the estimated 5,300 deportees.

John, who is also Bersatu Penampang Division Chief in welcoming the decision of Duterte and Salazar, said it was timely and the right decision.

He said the resumption of deportation exercises for Filipino illegal immigrants are targeted to start early July.

“I was made to understand that the deportation of the 5,300 illegal immigrants will be carried out in batches by the National Security Council,” he said adding that  all deportees would undergo strict health protocol procedures before sending them home via the Sandakan-Zamboanga sea route .

He said the resumption of the exercise would mean that the  agonies  of the detainees inside the holding centres would be shortened and would also  pave for them (illegal immigrants) to secure proper travel documents in the event they wish to work again  in Sabah in the future.

“The Federal and Sabah governments welcome foreign workers provided they enter Malaysia legally,” the Senator reiterates.

John also said  that resumption of the  exercises is a ‘win-win’ situation for both the Philippines and Malaysia.

“Sending home the deportees will help solve overcrowding in detention centres and possible coronavirus infections among the inmates…,” he stressed.

Meanwhile,  Sabah have deported more than half-a-million illegal immigrants to their countries of origin since 1990.

State National Security Council director Sharifah Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said 134 foreigners were sent back to Indonesia Wednesday (June 24) and the rest today.

“These foreigners will be sent back via the sea route from the Tawau port to Nunukan in Indonesia. This will be the 17th and 18th deportation by sea in 2020 that involves illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia,” she said in a statement.

These detainees, she said, had undergone Covid-19 screening prior to deportation and personal hygiene was practised throughout the process.

For the past 30 years, the council and other agencies including the Immigration Department in Sabah had deported 595,193 immigrants.

Sharifah Sitti Saleha also thanked agencies involved and the Indonesian government for the cooperation given throughout the deportation process.

As for the Philippine government via its embassy in Kuala Lumpur, they had been helpful too in the process of sending back their citizens who had been detained, she said.

She said continuous efforts were being made to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in Sabah.

“However, it will be tough (to reduce the number) if the community is still hiring, protecting and assisting illegal immigrants into the state.”

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