Many Filipinos who fear deportation from Sabah as the state cracks the whip on illegal immigrants claim to have acquired Malaysian citizenship and feel they are being treated as second-class citizens in their adoptive home.

"Where can we go? We have no money... the government should be humane towards our plight and at least give us a roof over our head," said Ahmad Abdullah, a 59-year-old Muslim fisherman.

State officials said that another 1,147 Filipinos were deported yesterday, taking the number sent home this year to more than 7,000.

The 723 men and 424 women were put on two ferries bound for Zamboanga city in the southern Philippines from Sandakan town, said Bustami Yahaya, deputy director of the federal Special Task Force.

The move took the number of illegal immigrants deported from Sabah this year to 7,351, comprising 4,322 Filipinos, 2,930 Indonesians and 99 other nationals, Bustami told AFP .

Malaysian ID card

"We are trying to expedite their repatriation so we can free up space at the camps for new illegals who are caught and also to ease our financial burden," he said.

"The presence of immigrants is threatening the livelihood of the people here. In certain areas, locals are afraid to go out at night. We hope to nip this problem once and for all."

Dozens of Filipino families who left behind on Gaya Island, the largest immigrant settlement in the state capital of Kota Kinabalu, are in desperate straits.

Their water village lies almost in ruins as hundreds of illegal squatter homes - an eyesore compared to the modern high rises across the bay from the state capital - have been torn down.

Abdullah, who moved to Sabah from Zamboanga almost 30 years ago, said he would stay put in his shabby hut with his seven children and 11 grandchildren.

"I have a Malaysian identity card and have voted in several elections. I am a Sabahan but I feel like a second-class citizen."

Boatman Mohamad Shariff Omar, 50, who has refugee status, appealed for government help to resettle his family of six.

"My house has been demolished and my four children have stopped schooling. I am just crying from the heart for all this injustice," he said.

Cheap labour

Sabah's close proximity to the southern Philippines and demand for cheap labour have made it a popular destination for Filipinos seeking to escape hardship at home.

The state aims to repatriate 30,000 illegals this year, up from 27,757 sent home last year.

Bustami said there was an estimated 100,000-150,000 illegals among some 600,000 immigrants in the state.

To detect Filipinos seeking to re-enter the state, he said those deported would be fingerprinted and their photographs taken for easy identification.

The state suffered embarrassment when Filipino Muslim rebels kidnapped tourists from Sabah resort islands in two separate incidents in 2000.

But the global anti-terrorism campaign has emboldened Sabah into taking action, officials said.

"Locals have been suffering in silence in fear of immigrant aggression... it's an all-out war now to nip the problem in the bud," said a spokesman for the state government.

Sabah, on Borneo island, launched its biggest crackdown in decades on Feb 26 to weed out illegal immigrants blamed for a growth in crime and other social problems.

A total of 3,706 illegals being held at detention camps in the state would be sent home within the next few days, with some 500 Filipinos leaving on tomorrow, Bustami said.

In the past two weeks, gun-toting security personnel have bulldozed hundreds of immigrant colonies throughout the state and demolished thousands of rickety wooden houses built on stilts in shallow waters.