MANILA - Malaysia has agreed to implement several proposals from the Philippines for the orderly deportation of Filipino illegal immigrants after complaints they were ill-treated, an official said today.

They include an upgrading of facilities at the deportation centres to cater particularly for pregnant women, children and elderly and the opening up of an additional embarking point for deportees, Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines Taufik Mohamed Noor told AFP .

He said the new measures were contained in an official statement from the Malaysian government replying to a protest note, which he had received from Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople last month.

Officials in the Philippines have alleged that at least three children have died during the recent deportation of some 12,000 Filipinos, and at least one teenage girl was reportedly raped by Malaysian enforcement officers at a holding centre

"We have acted swiftly and sincerely towards the concerns expressed in the note as well as their so-called shortcomings," Taufik said.

Bilateral ties were strained after the Philippines accused Malaysia of ill-treating thousands of illegals deported from Malaysia's Sabah state in Borneo after the introduction of tough immigration laws.

Information campaign

Several recommendations were also made to Malaysia to improve conditions at the deportation centres after a Philippine task force visited them.

"Even though the facilities are already available and sufficient, the government of Malaysia agrees with the government of the Philippines' proposal to upgrade the facilities at the deportation centres to cater particularly for pregnant women, children and old folks," according to a copy of the Malaysian statement obtained here.

It said one more embarkation point would be opened in Sabah's capital Kota Kinabalu "under critical circumstances" and coordination would be stepped up at the consular level over future arrests of Filipino illegals.

Malaysia also agreed to allow officials from the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur to conduct an information campaign within the Filipino community in Sabah on the new laws.

It is estimated that several hundred thousand Filipinos live in Sabah, some of them refugees of a Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines in the 1970s.

Immigration processing centres

Ambassador Taufik said Malaysia had in turn asked Manila to establish multiple immigration processing centres in the Philippines to facilitate issuance of travel documents to Filipinos to enter Malaysia legally.

The Philippines was also urged to consider expediting issuance of travel documents to Filipino deportees in Sabah for their swift return home, he said.

Taufik said a group of Malaysian police officers would arrive in Manila next week to interview a Filipina teenage girl who was allegedly raped by enforcement officers at a deportation centre in Sabah.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had pledged swift action in the case after it was raised with him by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo. AFP