ZAMBOANGA CITY, 16 October 2005 — At least 82 Filipinos who have been detained in Sabah following Malaysia’s crackdown on illegal immigrants were deported to the Philippines yesterday, officials said.
Eighty-two of the unfortunate immigrants, some of them children, arrived in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga onboard the ferry Danica Joy-2 after serving time in jails on various immigration offenses, local social worker Erwin Aguila said.
One of those deported, Jarmah Muhammad, said she and her five children were arrested when they failed to show their travel documents.
“We have been living in Sabah for many years and even my children were not spared. They sent us all back home and I am worried about the future of my children,” she said.
While some of those who were expelled served time in prisons for months, they said they were better off than those deported two years ago who brought home tales of harsh punishments and physical abuse in Malaysian prisons.
“Oh, life in jails are good now, unlike in the past where guards beat the prisoners. Now, the prisoners are treated well and the food is good — rice and fish and meat — we don’t know why?” a man named Sani said.
About 250 Filipinos were sent home earlier in the past weeks from Sabah and were sent to their provinces — some as far as Palawan in the west-central Philippines — after undergoing a series of counseling and briefing on the latest government job programs and skills training, said Agapita Bendoy, head of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) center in Zamboanga City.
In the center, the deportees were given food and free tickets going back to their hometowns despite meager support from the government.
“Social workers and volunteers helping us often have to spend their own money to buy food for the deportees,” Bendoy said.
Bendoy said more than 30,000 illegal Filipino workers were deported from Malaysia the past 5 years. The biggest number was reported in 2002 when some 10,000 Filipinos were rounded up and thrown in prison. They were shipped to Zamboanga City only after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo interceded for their release.
“The president really worked hard for the welfare of the Filipinos working in Malaysia. Now, we average only between 4,000 to 6,000 deportees a year and we hope to cut this figure in the future,” Bendoy said.
Malaysia began another crackdown on up to 500,000 illegal foreign workers early this year, with officials conducting searches that extended from construction sites in Kuala Lumpur to oil palm plantations in Sabah.
The roundup, which involved police, immigration and volunteer squads, came after the expiry of a four-month amnesty that allowed illegal immigrants to leave the country with a promise they could return as legal workers once they received proper documents.
Although up to 400,000 took advantage of the amnesty which began in October last year, many have remained in Malaysia at the risk of being jailed, fined or caned before being deported.
Malaysia estimates it has about 200,000 Filipinos in all immigration categories and that 68,000 of them have gone home since the start of the amnesty program last year October.
Bendoy appealed to illegal Filipino immigrants to come home and apply for passport in Zamboanga City so they can return and work legally in Malaysia.
But despite an aggressive government campaign to stop the influx of illegal workers to Sabah, many Filipinos searching for jobs or promise of better pay, continue to cross the border through the southern backdoor.
Many pose as tourist and once in Malaysia, they go into hiding until they find work. Some reportedly end up engaging in illegal activities just to survive or to be able to send money to their families back home.
Would-be migrant workers 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, several kilometers from the Philippine border.
In March, two Filipino women, who were victims of illegal recruitment in the southern Philippines, had escaped from a night club in Sabah, after their employer allegedly forced them into prostitution.
The women, Vernaliza Gabor, 25, and Jennifer Ortiz, 28, were among the more than 200 workers who were expelled after they failed to show their immigration papers.
Gabor claimed she was hired by a Filipino recruiter named Madelyn Amado to work as a waitress in a restaurant in Sabah’s Sandakan district, but ended up working in a night club called VIP.
She said she rushed to the Sandakan port and sought the help of a Filipino sailor, Ellezer Osing, chief mate of the M/V Mary Joy, which is owned by the Aleson Shipping Lines based in Zambonga City.
Gabor and Ortiz, both natives of Butuan City in the northern Mindanao, arrived in Sabah on March 1 after being promised a monthly salary of more than P38,000 ($690). Ortiz escaped three days ahead of Gabor with the help of a Malaysian customer, who spirited her out of the club and brought her to the police.
Ortiz said eight other Filipino women, mostly from the central province of Cebu, were also forced into prostitution in Sandakan and were being kept against their will by their employer.
She said a Malaysian police officer named Ferhan Lee gave her shelter and money so she can return to the Philippines.
“Ferhan Lee was so kind. He gave me food and money so I can return home and I owe my life to him and I urge the Philippine government to look into the plight of the women who are left behind,” she said.
Ortiz and Gabor said their families were unaware of their ordeal, but told their stories to warn other Filipino women not to fall prey to illegal recruiters.
