Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Immigration Department (JIM) Director SH Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof regrets that the temporary immigration holding centres in the state remain crowded following the suspension of the exercise by the Philippines Government since the start of the pandmic in 2020 not to mention the additional financial burden that the Malaysian authorities have to bear.
“I hope they will be able to return home soonest possible,” she said.
Although the Covid-19 situation has improved, the resumption of deportations was further delayed this year when M/V Antonia 1, the appointed vessel to ferry Filipino deportees to Zamboanga, went for dry dock maintenance.