Malaysia to suspend repatriation of RP migrants
Malaysia to suspend repatriation of RP migrants
Agencies, Singapore/Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Malaysia has agreed to suspend forced repatriations of illegal Filipino migrant workers amid outrage over conditions in detention camps, where three children are reported to have died, the British Broadcasting Corp. reports on its web site.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he would accede to a request from Philippines President Gloria Arroyo to allow her time to send officials to inspect the holding centers. But he rejected accusations from Manila that the migrants were being treated inhumanely.
He also made it clear there would be no change to Malaysia's tough new law allowing for the caning and jailing of illegal workers - a policy which has seen hundreds of thousands of Indonesians and Filipinos leave the country, though many still remain.
The Philippines Government last week filed an official complaint with Malaysia saying three infants had died during repatriation - but Malaysian camp officials have denied that any died in their jurisdiction.
"This is a great tragedy," Arroyo said in a speech, referring to the refugees. "They are physically weak, have no life to come home to, no jobs wait for them here.
"I appeal to everyone to donate food, medicines, clothing and money to ease their sufferings. Before the situation turns grimmer, let us join hands to face and end this problem."
A Philippine mission arrived in Malaysia on Monday to seek the orderly repatriation of Filipino illegals amid claims by some deportees their homes had been razed to drive them out.
Mission leader and presidential adviser for the Muslim community Nur Jaafar said in Kota Kinabalu, capital of the state of Sabah, he would ask Malaysia to simplify the deportation process.
Philippine diplomat Giovanni Palec told Reuters by telephone from Sabah that Jaafar's team would visit detention centers and hoped to travel to the capital Kuala Lumpur later in the week for a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also in charge of home affairs.
Sabah Chief Minister Chong Kah Kiat, who is due to meet the team on Tuesday, said the government would ease the team's visit to three detention camps in Menggatal near Kota Kinabalu and in Sandakan and Tawau town.
"We are happy that they are coming to have a look at their own people here," he said. "Whether the situation is the same as pictured by the Philippine media is for them to assess."
Malaysia has already expelled about 70,000 undocumented Filipinos in recent months and the Philippines last week strongly protested against the harsh treatment many of them were said to have suffered in detention in Sabah.
Many Indonesians have also been expelled -- reports say there were an estimated 500,000 Indonesians illegally working in Malaysia before the new law took effect on August 1.
Manila's ANC television network and the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper said on Monday some Filipino deportees complained their homes were burned by Malaysians to force them to leave.
"We heard 3,000 houses were burned. Then they arrested those who were living there and jailed them," one unidentified Filipino said in an ANC video clip.
The Inquirer, in a dispatch from Sandakan, quoted Filipino resident Abdullah Jalmaani as saying his family's three houses had been razed.
"If a house doesn't get burned, the authorities will tear it apart," Jalmaani was quoted as saying. "It is better to go home. It is better to live."
In Davao, Philippines, left-wing activists, including Muslim militants, burned a Malaysian flag in southern Davao city on Monday to protest the alleged maltreatment of thousands of illegal Filipino migrants being deported from Malaysia.
During the rally outside the Malaysian consulate, the protesters blamed President Arroyo for the Filipinos' fate, saying she has not done much to protect them.