MANILA - Allegations that Malaysia had ill-treated Filipino illegals under recently-introduced harsh immigration laws were baseless, Kuala Lumpur's envoy in Manila said Wednesday.
About 120 Filipino illegals, 60 of them children, in Sabah were allegedly deported to the Philippines on a fishing vessel designed only to carry a quarter of the load, according to some of the group.
The Philippine coastguard had said one of its vessels rescued them in high seas.
"The Sabah immigration department and the Malaysian security authorities investigated the charges and found them to be baseless," ambassador Taufik Mohamed Noor said.
Some of the illegal Filipino migrants had claimed they were packed in a small boat and herded to the deep seas by Sabah authorities because they had not returned home during a four-month amnesty period offered to illegals.
The amnesty period that ended on July 31 allowed illegals to leave without prosecution.
"There has been no case of deportation of illegal immigrants from Sabah after the expiry date of the amnesty period," Taufik said.
"Even if there was a deportation, the procedure of deportation of illegal immigrants takes place with the knowledge and assistance of the relevant foreign embassies or consulates," he added.
Diplomatic protest
Taufik has written a letter of clarification to Philippine Senate President Franklin Drilon, who had earlier urged Manila to file a diplomatic protest to Kuala Lumpur over the alleged unfair treatment of the migrants.
Under tough Malaysian laws effective Aug 1, anyone found guilty of illegal entry or harbouring illegal immigrants will face a mandatory six months in jail and possibly up to six strokes of the cane.
Taufik also said that based on Kuala Lumpur's new policy on recruitment of foreign workers, Filipino men were welcome to work in factories and plantations as well as construction and service sectors.
Previously, only Filipina women were allowed to work in large numbers in Malaysia - as domestic maids and nurses.
"Filipino workers who were working illegally in these sectors should take advantage of the new policy by registering with employment agencies to work in Malaysia," Taufik said. — AFP
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