Philippine Immigration

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has beefed up the members of its task force assigned to process the thousands of Filipinos who are being deported from Sabah to Mindanao as an offshoot of Malaysia’s ongoing crackdown against undocumented aliens.

BI Commissioner Marcelino C. Libanan assigned three more immigration officers to the task force upon recommendation of task force head Jose Carandang, who reported that there are still an estimated 10,000 Filipinos currently awaiting deportation in Sabah. The task force, which now has seven members, was formed by Libanan a month ago at the request of Mayor Celso Lobregat of Zamboanga City where the ship carrying the deportees used to arrive.

It was learned that Carandang sought the fielding of more personnel to the task force after the ship MV Danica Joy that previously transports the deportess from Sabah to Zamboanga suspended its operation.

Unlike the MV Danica Joy, the fast craft Weesam Expresss that currently picks the deportees stops first at the port in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi and then in Jolo, Sulu before going to Zamboanga.

Thus, the deportees are now processed by the task force at the Bongao port, the ship’s first destination after leaving Sabah.

Carandang said an average of 400 to 500 Filipinos are being deported from Sabah every week as the ship, which sails twice a week, can carry only a maximum of about 240 passengers.

He disclosed that a little over a thousand deportees were processed by the task force since it was created a month ago.

Carandang said the task force is still months away from completing its job as there are still more than 10,000 undocumented Filipinos presently detained in Sabah as a result of their arrest by Malaysian immigration authorities.

Most of the deportees, he said, had worked as domestic helpers, factory workers or market vendors in Malaysia without the proper documents. (BI News)