In view of the Malaysian government's defensive stance on the alleged rape of the 13-year-old girl, Manila has asserted that it is concerned with all allegations of ill-treatment against its nationals and not just the alleged rape case.

The Philippines embassy in Kuala Lumpur said a note had been sent by Manila in early September to the foreign affairs ministry requesting for investigations into several other allegations that surfaced during the mass repatriation of Filipino nationals from Sabah.

"We are still waiting for their response," said Consul-General Luis Cruz when contacted today.

However, an official from Wisma Putra's Philippines desk Hamizan Hashim said he is not aware of the note but added that all investigations are currently being conducted by the police.

Bilateral ties between Malaysia and the Philippines first deteriorated over reports that several children of returning migrant workers had died as a result of poor conditions in Sabah camps. Adding to this were allegations of sexual slavery of female detainees and the controversial alleged rape of a minor by Sabah police personnel.

The apology issue

Meanwhile, Cruz said he had not received any feedback from Manila in response to several calls by Malaysian leaders for their Philippines counterparts to apologise for criticising Malaysia over the alleged rape of the minor, initially thought to be Filipina but now confirmed to be a Malaysian.

"I have sent press reports on the matter to Manila but we have not received any reply so far," he said.

In addition, Cruz denied claims that the absence of a Philippines consulate in Sabah had contributed to the poor verification of nationality of deportees and resulted in their prolonged detention in Sabah camps.

"All travellers are issued with travel documents. We rely on the list (of deportees) provided by the Sabah Immigration Task Force," he said.

Successive Philippine governments had refused to establish a general consulate in the state due to sovereignty claims by Manila over Sabah, historically a part of the Sultanate of Sulu. Malaysia has rejected these claims, saying that Sabahans had voted in a pre-independence referendum to join Malaysia.

No family members

Contacted later, Sabah Immigration Department director Abdullah Sani Sulaiman refused to comment on how the error with the deportation of the 13-year-old girl was made, saying only that "the top people (in the government) know the answer".

Asked about the other allegations of ill-treatment in detention centres, Abdullah said a team of investigators from the Philippines were generally satisfied with conditions in Sabah camps after visiting them in Menggatal, Sandakan and Tawau.

"Overall, they were satisfied with the conditions. They made several suggestions on how to improve matters, for instance, to give special attention to children," he said.

Abdullah also clarified his statement to a Sabah newspaper Daily Express on Tuesday that 75 percent of the people detained during the Ops Nyah II Bersepadu were locals without documents.

"We apprehended a large number of people without documents. Some 60 to 75 percent of them were later released," he said.

According to him, those without documents are given two to three weeks to contact family members or friends who could bring along documents proving their identity.

"However, some of them did not want to contact their families or said they do not know of any family members," he said.

Abdullah said that since March this year, a total of 17,000 Filipinos and 35,000 Indonesians have been sent back to their country of origin via official channels.

"Many more have left Sabah through unofficial channels. We are uncertain how many are left," he said.

He added, however, that police are continuing to raid illegal immigrant settlements and arrest undocumented workers based on reports made by locals. "We mount operations based on information from the public. If we have the information, we will act."

Cleaner camp

On a related development, Suhakam commissioners Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan and Asiah Abu Samah made another short-notice visit to the immigration detention camp in Menggatal last Sunday while attending a Suhakam seminar in Kota Kinabalu.

When contacted, Hamdan said conditions in the camp had improved because fewer persons are now detained in the camp.

"(The camp) is much cleaner now. We will continue to monitor the situation," he said.

Hamdan last visited all three Sabah camps in early September when the controversy over camp conditions first surfaced. He had found that the detention centres were managed satisfactorily.