A Philippines government investigator today urged Malaysia to improve conditions at detention centres for illegal migrants, especially for women and children.

Nur Jaafar called for the improvements after visiting a detention centre at Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia's eastern Sabah state, where he said people awaiting deportation had complained of poor food and inadequate conditions.

"I want conditions for the children and women to be improved in accordance with international law," said Jaafar, head of a seven-man delegation investigating conditions at the Malaysian camps after allegations that migrants at them were being ill-treated.

He earlier visited camps in Tawau and Sandakan and said afterwards he was happy with conditions there, although there had been some complaints.

President Gloria Arroyo ordered the investigation of the camps after claims by Filipinos being deported in a Malaysian crackdown on illegal immigrants that they had been abused at holding centres for illegal immigrants on Borneo island.

Officials in the Philippines have alleged that at least three children have died during the recent deportation of some 12,000 Filipinos.

Sexually abused

The camps, each of which can hold 1,000 people, are in Sabah's capital Kota Kinabalu and in the towns of Sandakan and Tawau on the east coast near the southern Philippines.

Asked specifically of allegations in the Philippines media that some women deportees had been sexually abused, Jaafar said he received some complaints.

But Sabah police chief Ramli Yussuf said that the newspaper reports were mere allegations.

"If they (the victims) make a proper report against any of my men, we will investigate and take appropriate action if the allegation is found to be true," he said.

Jaafar said one of the effects of poor conditions at the detention centres could be that people, especially children, could form a poor opinion of Malaysia.

"The smaller children could be demoralised and psychological barrier be formed and they may grow up to hate the Malaysian government," he said.

Jaafar said that since the bulk of the migrants were Muslims, Malaysia should be lenient towards them.

Tough laws

"Since Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country, Malaysia is in a better position to accord leniency for their brother Muslims in such distress situations," he said.

Malaysia last month introduced tough laws against illegal migrants, resulting in a mass exodus of foreign nationals, including from the Philippines and Indonesia.

Ghapur Salleh, minister in the chief minister's office, said there were 536 Filipino migrants at the three camps awaiting deportation but they were unable to leave because they did not have travel documents.

He said there had been no more detentions since Sept 1.

The Philippines has sought Malaysia's cooperation for a planned deportation of the estimated 80,000 Filipino illegals still in Sabah so that it would not impose a burden on both economies.

Malaysia's crackdown on illegal immigrants, who flock to the relatively wealthy Southeast Asian nation in search of jobs, has sparked protests in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Some 380,000 people, mainly from those two countries, fled Malaysia during a four-month amnesty ahead of the introduction last month of harsh new punishments for illegal immigrants, including jail terms and caning. AFP