Philippines urges M'sia to extend amnesty period for illegals

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The Philippines embassy on Thursday appealed to the authorities to extend an amnesty period for Filipino illegal immigrants to return home.

Ambassador Jose Brillantes said he feared the large number of returning Filipino's could not be transported back in time before the end of the amnesty, which runs from March 21 to July 31, as ferry services were lacking.

"The usual number of vehicles we have for transporting returning immigrants is not enough, and we are anticipating a larger than usual response," he said.

"We are not saying anything with respect to the government's policy of the amnesty period, but we are merely expressing a hope, considering the situation at hand," Brillantes told AFP .

He said more than 60,000 Filipinos had responded to the amnesty, which allows illegals to leave Malaysia without being prosecuted, adding that "a larger number will come forward in the next week".

"The numbers have been much larger than the average traffic and we encourage our citizens to take advantage of this (amnesty) before the time is up," he said.

Brillantes said the Philippines had not indicated if it would step in and provide additional modes of transportation, adding the responsibility was left more to individual ferry operators.

"At the moment, our government will not step in, because it is a private business concern," he said.

Hoping for extension

Brillantes said the embassy hoped for an extension of "one to two weeks" to ferry all illegal workers back to Zamboanga in the southern Philippines region of Mindanao.

"We hope that even if there is no extension, the Malaysian government will at least consider those who register during the period, but can only leave after the amnesty ends, and not punish them," he said.

Under new immigration laws, effective from Aug 1, anyone found guilty of illegal entry or harbouring illegal immigrants would face a mandatory six months in jail and/or up to six strokes of the cane.

Currently, offenders face up to five years' jail or a fine of not more than RM10,000, but courts mostly impose fines.

Malaysia, which is home to some 750,000 legal foreign workers, granted a similar amnesty in 1998.

Kuala Lumpur's increasing intolerance of illegal workers was also turned against legal immigrants from Indonesia after two riots in January by textile and construction workers. — AFP



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