MANILA, Nov. 15 (PNA) -— The Philippines is sending a team to the Malaysian state of Sabah to look into alleged human rights violations committed by Malaysian immigration authorities against Filipinos processed for deportation.
Chairperson Leila de Lima of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said the team’s departure has not been finalized.
CHR Commissioner Norberto Dela Cruz and Atty. Jose Manuel Mamauag of the CHR Region IX lead the team that will work with their counterparts in Malaysia.
The mission will validate reports of beatings and maltreatment. It will also check on the overall situation of Filipino workers, mostly Muslim women and children, who are in detention.
"We have received complaints of this nature from the deportees themselves from our Regional Office in Zamboanga,” said De Lima in a statement.
Such abuses were also noted by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez during budget deliberations at the House of Representatives.
“It should not be (permissible for) Malaysian deportation authorities, or any host country for that matter, to abuse or maltreat migrants. They should be respected as any individual. They should be given equal dignity as any other citizen of the world," De Lima said.
Close to 200,000 Filipinos are reportedly working and staying illegally in Sabah, though the figures could be higher in Malaysia’s view. Most undocumented Filipinos in Sabah are from Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and other far-flung provinces in the south that are among the Philippines’ poorest.
Latest available records of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) show there are at least 244,967 Filipinos in Malaysia.
The territoriality of Sabah is disputed between the Philippines and Malaysia. A Philippine claim for sovereignty over the island, located south of Mindanao, has laid dormant for decades in international courts.
Manila and Kuala Lumpur nearly severed its ties in 2003 after thousands of Filipinos who were expelled from Sabah allegedly suffered abuse in deportation holding centers.
The Philippine government lodged a diplomatic protest against Malaysia as Filipino deportees accused Malaysian authorities of violating their human rights and subjecting them to torture. (PNA)
