The Philippine Commission on Human Rights is to investigate allegations that Filipinos deported from Sabah are being abused by Malaysian authorities.

Commission head Leila de Lima said a team would visit Sabah to probe allegations that Filipinos have been beaten and mistreated while in detention centres there.

"As an independent constitutional office mandated to protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of every Filipino, whether residing here or abroad... we are duty-bound to look after their welfare," she said in a statement.

sabah illegal immigrant She also cited appeals by congressmen in the southern Philippines on behalf of newly-arrived Filipinos who had been sent home as part of Malaysia's crackdown on illegal aliens.

AFP reported that de Lima did not say when the team would be leaving but remarked that their mission would be coordinated with Malaysia's Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).

Last month, a fact-finding body charged that illegal Filipino workers, expelled from Sabah, had been severely beaten by police.

It also said thousands of others, including women and children, remained in Malaysian detention centres "suffering from inhumane conditions".

The Philippine government believes about 200,000 Filipinos are working in Sabah but Malaysian officials say the number is far higher.

Filipinos in the south frequently cross the maritime border to seek work in Sabah.

Malaysia announced a fresh crackdown on illegals early this year and thousands of Filipinos have been deported since.

Suhakam unaware of plan

Suhakam vice-chairperson Simon Sipaun told Malaysiakini that he is not aware of the Philippine plan to visit detention camps in Sabah.

“I have not received any information on that,” he said when contacted.

However, he said that an official from the Philippine embassy had met him to discuss how both sides could cooperate.

police abuse suhakam pc 050808 simon sipaun Sipaun also said human rights commissions in the region had been working together informally for the past two years, and had recently stepped up efforts towards formal cooperation.

“This is a very normal thing. There are four countries in the Asean region with human rights commissions - Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

However, aspects that require strengthening include information gathering.

“Their commissions often provide us with limited information to work on. For example, they don’t have basic details such as names of complainants, or the time and place of the alleged violations,” he said.

Suhakam has also found it difficult to trace violations because of the unwillingness of deportees to lodge reports.

“We have visited all the detention camps. Whenever we asked if there are any cases of human rights violations, no one raised it,” Sipaun said.

Asked if bilateral ties would be affected should the Philippine human rights body implicate Malaysian authorities, Sipaun disagreed.

“I don’t think so. We have given their citizens many employment opportunities so they have nothing to complain about,” he added.

“The deportees are technically lawbreakers as they did not come here through the proper channel so there is no basis for them to complain.”