Philippines to repatriate 600 nationals from Malaysia

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MANILA - The Philippines has secured Kuala Lumpur's approval to send naval vessels to Sabah to repatriate some 600 Filipino illegals, the foreign department said today.

Manila would send one or two navy vessels following clearance obtained by the Filipino embassy in Kuala Lumpur, foreign department spokesman Victoriano Lecaros told reporters.

He did not give a time table for the return of the 600 Filipinos, who have already completed paper work for repatriation and are "just waiting for available space."

The navy vessels could carry up to 2,000 people, he added.

Malaysia recently offered an amnesty period allowing illegals to leave without prosecution.

Tough immigration laws

Under tough Malaysian laws effective August 1, anyone found guilty of illegal entry or harboring illegal immigrants will face a mandatory six months in jail and possibly up to six strokes of the cane.

Officials say up to half a million Filipinos live in Sabah, some of them refugees of a Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines in the 1970s but most of them more recent economic migrants.



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