Philippines authorities have bought themselves more time after the threatened nationwide sweep to deport illegal Filipinos in Malaysia, most of whom are in the state of Sabah, was put on hold at the last minute.

Manila had been ill-prepared for the arrival of the estimated 250,000 to 350,000 Filipino undocumented migrants from Malaysia should the crackdown on illegals proceed following the end of a three-month amnesty period which expired on Monday.

However, the Malaysian cabinet decided yesterday that the amnesty would now be extended 'indefinitely' .

Despite that the government announced six months ago that all foreigners without proper documents would be deported, Philippine authorities have responded with 'band-aid solutions' to the pressing need of providing food and shelter to thousands of deportees.

Even the assurances by the government of an "orderly repatriation" and the hasty formation several days ago of an inter-agency task force belie fears to the contrary - that the impending deportation will lead to a repeat of the deportations in 2002.

This time, warned a number of migrant support groups, the deportations would be on an even bigger scale.

Manila-based Migrante International (MI) said "the atrocities and inhuman sufferings" as a result of the 2002 mass expulsion of about 10,000 Filipino illegals from Sabah was "incomparable".

Four children died as a result of dehydration and other hardships during the deportation exercise, while there were also reports of sexual abuse among other human rights violations.

History repeats itself?

MI secretary-general Matia Santiago warned that history might repeat itself and the Philippines could very possibly witness a humanitarian crisis comparable to Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh.

"The situation in the Philippines since the 2002 deportations has not improved," lamented Santiago.

"The Malaysian government had made the announcement as far back as July 2004. In terms of action on the part of the Philippine government, there should have been (mechanisms) in the long term, not quick-fix solutions," she added.

"Even the medical assistance, food and shelters that will be provided (to the deportees) are themselves of questionable quality," she added.

Two days ago, foreign affairs undersecretary Jose S Brilliantes asserted that the Philippine government had adequately prepared measures to deal with the expected influx of Filipino repatriates from Malaysia.

"(The government's) greatest concern was to avoid last-minute and hastily drawn-up measures and instead allow us to plan ahead to properly and adequately address the various concerns of the thousands of Filipino repatriates expected to enter through the South," added Brilliantes, a former ambassador to Malaysia.

However, Santiago said MI does not have much faith in Brilliantes' assurances.

Her statements echoed those of Senator Ralph Recto, who had argued that this year's deportation would be much worse than 2002.

"How many were deported during that time? Fewer than 10,000. Yet we had a hard time housing and feeding them. If this incoming wave of refugees is 10 times bigger than the one in 2002 - or 100,000 persons - then we are facing a crisis," said Recto.

Economic, social reintegration?

Santiago said the long-term reintegration of the deportees into the economic and social fabric of Philippine society seems to have been ignored by the authorities.

Apart from retraining and providing 'alternative livelihoods' to those who may have worked for decades in Malaysia, the question of socially reintegrating them into Filipino society had not been addressed, said Santiago.

She said the government even failed in 2002 to provide transportation to Filipino deportees arriving in Mindanao, which left them no means to travel to their home villages.

"The government did not provide any transport to their home towns outside of the city of Zamboanga (where they arrived).They were left with nothing but their own ways to get home," she said, adding that the authorities seem not to have learned from that experience.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur-based migrant workers' advocacy group Tenaganita chief Irene Fernandez had voiced concern for the plight of Filipino children in Sabah who did not possess documents.

"After the crackdown of 2002, our fact-finding mission found that there were a large number of children who had been born and brought up in Sabah," she said when contacted.

"What are we going to do with these children? They are basically stateless. Where does this problem belong to? Malaysia or the Philippines?"