MANILA - The Philippines will return to Malaysia a girl whose alleged rape in a Sabah detention center triggered a diplomatic row, Foreign Minister Blas Ople said today.

The 13-year-old girl had been erroneously deported along with thousands of Filipinos in a crackdown against illegal migrants in Sabah in September.

Manila filed a diplomatic protest over the alleged rape, which caused outrage in the Philippines amid reports that Filipino deportees were being maltreated by Malaysian authorities.

President Gloria Arroyo had also written Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad demanding a swift investigation of the case.

It was later established that the girl was a Malaysian citizen who had been associating with illegal Filipino migrants, but Manila said it would still closely follow up the case.

"The girl will be turned over to Malaysia after Ramadan," Ople told reporters, referring to the Islamic holy month which ends in December.

Social welfare attache

He said the Philippines social welfare department will work closely with its Malaysian counterpart to continue to "assist in the caring of the child."

"There will also be a Philippine social welfare attache in Kuala Lumpur who will monitor the proceeding and the evidence produced by the Malaysian government shows that the girl is a Malaysian citizen," Ople said.

"The controlling consideration is the interest of the child and our moral obligation to give justice to her and of course we look forward to the successful resolution of the case."

In September, it was announced that a Malaysian investigator who travelled to this country to speak with the girl, would recommend the filing of charges against three guards in the detention center. AFP