They were on their way back to their homeland, but the 1,000 Filipinos deported from Sabah earlier this month could hardly have been ecstatic about that trip.

After all, some had married either fellow migrants or Malaysian nationals and already had children who knew no other country than Malaysia. But now all of them were being forced to return to a land that many of them may no longer consider home.

Activists working on migrant labour issues have expressed concern over the mass deportation, which is still going on.

Says one Penang-based volunteer working with Filipino migrant workers: ''I am really sad by what I read. I think there should be a more liberal attitude if they have been in Sabah for some time. They should be given fairer treatment.''

Sabah officials, however, are determined to carry out the state's latest crackdown on illegal migrants, and even Sabah-born children who do not have the requisite Malaysian identity cards — the utmost evidence of citizenship — are no longer welcome.

''Those who have no documents should have no place in the state,'' Sabah Chief Minister Chong Kah Khiat has been quoted as replying when asked about the official stance on the migrants' children. ''They should return to where they come from.''

''Let us not try to divert the focus of what we are doing today — to get rid of all illegal immigrants,'' he also said. ''We should take the opportunity that has not come by for the last 20 years. Let us do it now.''

Suspicious fire

In truth, Malaysia has been deporting hordes of Filipino illegal migrants since late last year. According to a local newspaper, the total number of illegal migrants from nearby Philippines who have been deported from Sabah since early this year alone comes to 4,477.

Malaysia hosts some 700,000 legal migrant workers and hundreds of thousands of illegal ones. Filipinos and Indonesians make up the majority of the illegal migrants in Sabah, which is on Borneo island and but a few hours' boat ride from their countries.

In fact, the Filipino illegal migrants deported recently were put on a mere ferry in Sandakan for their trip to Zamboanga City, in the southern Philippines.

The latest deportation campaign in that state that began on Feb 26 has been described by officials as ''integrated'', or involving the police, military and civil defence personnel. So far, more than 11,000 foreigners have been screened while more than 4,500 ''squatter houses'' have been demolished.

Last week, a suspicious fire also razed Kampung Baru, the largest squatter colony in the international financial haven of Labuan, offshore from Sabah, destroying 1,000 homes and leaving more than 5,000 people homeless.

Police are investigating arson as a possible cause for the blaze, even as immigrants who have been issued temporary stay permits in Sabah have been encouraged to return to their countries of origin as soon as their passes expire.

Some activists have been left pondering over the timing of the latest deportation blitz, which have also included Indonesian migrants and has brought out Malaysia's tougher policy against illegal migrants since the economic downturn of 1997.

Kuala Lumpur-based human rights activist Joseph Paul says, ''The question is, why now? Packing them off suddenly after they have been here so long is not very good from a humanitarian point of view.''

But others say the real question should be, why only now? Indeed, they point out, officials for decades have used migrant workers as scapegoats for problems like crime, overstretched health and education budgets, to even environmental pollution and outbreaks of disease.

''Irrespective of race or group, social problems happen everywhere. Why point the finger at migrants?'' countered the Penang-based migrant volunteer activist mentioned earlier. ''If they are not creating trouble, I don't see why they should rush the deportation.''

Paul himself muses, ''I just wonder if this whole operation is related to efforts to get into the good books of those leading the global fight against terrorism.''

To be sure, this mainly Muslim country has been named by some foreign political analysts as a potential Islamist militant hot spot.

Some Filipino analysts also find it ironic that Malaysian police have described the operation in Sabah as being aimed at rooting out armed militant groups, especially from the Philippines, that were allegedly trying to set up bases in the squatter colonies.

According to these analysts, Muslim rebel groups in the Philippines have long been suspected of sourcing part of their funds from Malaysia, where they are even believed to have received training.

Manila irritated

Malaysia's crackdown on migrants, which had soured ties with Indonesia after Kuala Lumpur's recent ban on new workers from that neighbouring country, has now caused irritation on Manila's part.

Just late last year, Manila was all praises for Kuala Lumpur after Malaysian authorities caught and detained Nur Misuari, the then governor of the Philippines' Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, who had fled to this country after trying to foment unrest in the southern Philippines.

Misuari, leader of the oldest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines, has since been deported to his homeland, where he is now facing charges of rebellion.

In the meantime, many immigrants in Sabah have reportedly returned to their home countries on their own. Others, however, have fled for the plantations and relatives' homes.

Media reports reaching here say major towns in Sabah are now quieter than usual, with foreign street vendors conspicuously absent.

A Sabah state cabinet minister has since said that authorities are looking into the issue of second and third generation children of immigrants who had no papers.

While some of the immigrants may have Malaysian birth certificates, the issuance of fake birth documents to immigrants in the past only mean that they remain suspect in the eyes of authorities.

An official, however, says that those with genuine birth certificates should have no problems applying for citizenship. (IPS)