Police launch crackdown on Filipino, Indonesian illegals
The police today launched a major crackdown on illegal immigrants in Sabah, targeting the arrest of more than 10,000.
The operation, aimed at flushing out illegal workers, mainly Filipinos and Indonesians, from rural settlements, is the second phase of a similar operation launched in February in the coastal areas of the state, police spokesman Sanali Amit told AFP .
Thousands of Filipino workers were deported as a result of the February offensive, the biggest of its kind in the state.
"This time, we launched the operation in three interior districts as we believe the migrants who escaped our attention in the first operation have escaped to the inlands," Sanali said.
"We are expecting to arrest and deport more than 10,000 illegals, who are mostly Filipinos and Indonesians," he said.
Sanali said police also planned to demolish 5,000 squatter houses, adding that almost 13,000 homes have already been torn down.
"We are confident the operation will be as successful as the first," he said, adding that the illegals would be deported immediately.
Up to half-a-million Filipinos live in Sabah, many of them having entered illegally to work in the resources-rich territory.
Zero illegal entry
Sabah's problem has a familiar ring in Malaysia, which is home to about a million illegal immigrants and some 750,000 legal foreign workers, mainly from Indonesia.
The action in Sabah is in line with a tougher approach throughout Malaysia following the government's announcement in February that it would tighten coastal security as it aims for zero illegal entry this year.
The government has said illegal immigrants have contributed to a growth in crime and other social problems but the tough new line is also seen as a bid to protect jobs for locals in a time of economic hardship.
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