ZAMBOANGA CITY, 11 April 2006 — At least 326 Filipinos detained in Sabah, Malaysia were deported to the Philippines as Kuala Lumpur stepped up its crackdown on illegal immigrants, officials said yesterday.

The deportees, including 67 children, arrived on Saturday in Zamboanga City onboard the ferry Danica Joy-2 after serving time in jails on various immigration offenses, local social welfare official Elizabeth Dy said.

Most of those deported were natives of Jolo and Tawi-Tawi islands in the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines, and Basilan island, about 8 miles south of Zamboanga City.

Those deported were sent to a social welfare center here and given food and free tickets to return to their hometowns, despite a meager funding from the government. Many of them also underwent a series of counseling and briefing on the latest government job programs and skills training.

At least 20 from Basilan island were sent home on Sunday. “We will be sending home the rest of the deportees and we hope they don’t return anymore to Sabah, not without proper documents,” Dy said.

Many of those who were expelled from Sabah served time in prisons from two weeks to one year or longer.

But unlike in the past, where Filipino deportees brought home tales of harsh punishments and physical abuses in Malaysian prisons, those who returned on Saturday said they were treated well and given ample ration of food while in jails, Dy said.

“We did not have any single complaint from the deportees, and we asked them about whether they were abused, and they told us that they were treated well and fed too. That’s good considering the good relations between the Philippines and Malaysia. We are also happy about this development,” she said.

Agapita Bendoy, head of the Zamboanga social welfare center, said previously that more than 30,000 Filipinos considered “illegals” were deported from Malaysia the past 5 years.

The biggest was in 2002 when some 10,000 Filipinos were jailed and later deported to Zamboanga after President Arroyo interceded for their release.

“The president really worked hard for the welfare of the Filipinos working in Malaysia. Now, we average 6,000 to 4,000 deportees a year and we hope to cut this figure in the future,” Bendoy said.

She appealed to Filipino illegals to come home and apply for passport at home so they can return and work legally in Malaysia.

Since January, Malaysia deported a total of 1,823 Filipinos from Sabah. The largest was in March when 845 deportees arrived by boat in Zamboanga, said Dy.

Despite the continuing crackdown, many Filipinos searching for jobs or promise of better pay continue to cross the border to Malaysia through the southern backdoor.

Many pose as tourist. Once in Malaysia, they go into hiding until they find work. Worse, they end up engaging in criminal or illegal activities in order to survive or to have money to send to their families at home.

Others end up becoming victims of the white slavery. Last year, two Filipino women, victims of illegal recruitment, escaped from a night club in Sabah, saying their employer allegedly forced them into prostitution.

Illegal immigrants pay as much as 2,000 pesos ($35) each to private boat operators in Bongao or Sitangkai island off Tawi-Tawi to bring them across Sabah, just several nautical miles from the Philippine border.