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.