KL halts deportation of RP migrant workers
KL halts deportation of RP migrant workers
Associated Press, Sandakan, Malaysia
The Malaysian government announced a temporary halt to the expulsion of Filipino illegal immigrants Saturday, hours after hundreds of the migrants boarded vessels to return to the impoverished southern Philippines.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the decision was reached following a telephone conversation late Friday with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who expressed concern over the plight of Filipinos being detained in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island, near the southern Philippines.
"She asked me whether we can take a short break in sending their people home. I agreed," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.
The announcement follows a week of tensions over Malaysia's enforcement of new laws that allow caning, imprisonment and large fines for illegal immigrants in a crackdown triggered partly by security fears.
More than 300,000 migrants, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, have recently fled Malaysia to escape the new penalties, which took effect Aug. 1.
Demonstrators have burned Malaysian flags in Indonesia and the Philippines to protest alleged maltreatment of illegal immigrants. The governments of both countries have said they respect Malaysia's right to implement new laws, but expressed concerns about the migrants' well-being.
The Philippines lodged a formal protest with Malaysia, saying three children died - possibly due to overcrowding at detention centers - while being repatriated. Some deportees have complained of being given inadequate food and water.
On Saturday, Arroyo said she "came to an understanding" with Mahathir over how to ease the situation. An official Philippine mission would travel to Malaysia on Monday to sort out the details, she said.
"A great tragedy is happening in the southern Philippines," Arroyo said in her weekly radio message in Manila, adding that she "saw firsthand the sufferings of thousands of deportees from Sabah."
But Arroyo added that the controversy should not undermine ties with Malaysia, which she called "our ally in security, peace and development."
Mahathir, speaking Saturday on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, said Malaysia would allow a Philippine team to inspect its detention centers. Once the team was satisfied that Filipino detainees were not being mistreated, the deportations would resume.
On Saturday, more than 450 Filipinos, including 250 who had been arrested and held in a detention center, trudged onto a Philippine navy ship and a coast guard vessel in Sabah to leave for the nearby southern Philippines.
They were the latest batch of more than 2,000 Filipinos who have been sent back on navy ships recently, said Sidin Karim, operations chief of a government task force responsible for illegal immigrants. Hundreds more have left voluntarily on ferries.
Doctors at the departure port checked for illnesses and vaccinated many women and children, most of whom boarded the coast guard vessel, which was expected to reach the Philippines in five hours - less than half the time the slower navy ship would take.