Almost 5,000 Filipinos have been deported from Sabah and about 3,000 others are in detention centers in Sandakan in Malaysia, the Bureau of Immigration in Manila revealed.

illegal immigrants roundup 010305 group Immigration Commissioner Marcelino C Libanan said in a Asia News Network report that the bureau has processed the return to the country of 4,847 Filipinos deported as a result of Malaysia’s continuing crackdown against illegal foreign workers.

Libanan, in a press statement carried by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said the deportees are being processed by Task Force Sabah, a team of immigration officers formed last year to process the returnees.

Task Force Sabah head Jose Carandang said the 4,847 deportees refer only to those who arrived since July 24 when the bureau’s task force started its work and do not include those who were previously repatriated to Zamboanga.

Deportees being processed

The task force was created to allow easy processing of re-entry by deportees from Sabah .

“They are Filipinos and the Bureau of Immigration will accord them the welcome they deserve and easy access back to their home country,” Libanan said.

Libanan had formed the task force on request of Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat, who sought the bureau’s help in addressing the influx of deportees to the city.

Carandang said the deportees are now being processed in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi instead of Zamboanga.

prisoner immigrants behind bars 220605 He said two vessels, the M/V Danica Joy and M/V Weezam , sail to Sabah twice a week to pick up and bring the deportees to Mindanao, first to Bongao and then to Sulu before proceeding to Zamboanga.

Carandang added that there could still be about 3,000 Filipinos being detained in Sandakan and awaiting deportation as they could not be deported due to lack of travel documents.

Most of them had reportedly worked either as domestic helpers, factory workers or market vendors without the proper documents.