Kota Kinabalu: A total of 1,069 Filipino illegal immigrants were repatriated to their home country through two transfer exercises carried out by the Sabah Immigration Department this week.
State Immigration Department Director Datuk Sh Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said the figure included 800 detainees transferred from Sandakan Port to Zamboanga City Port in the Philippines on Thursday.
She said the operation used MV Antonia 1 and involved detainees from the Tawau, Sandakan and Papar Immigration depots.
“Of the 800 detainees, 590 were adult men, 88 adult women, 64 boys and 58 girls, aged between 16 days and 83 years.
“All the children involved were accompanied by their respective parents or guardians,” she said.
She said another transfer operation was carried out on Tuesday, involving 269 Filipino detainees from the Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau Immigration depots.
They were repatriated through the Lahad Datu ICQS Port to Bongao Port in the Philippines using a commercial ferry service.
“This brings the total number of Filipino detainees successfully transferred to their home country to 1,069 this week,” she said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the State Immigration Department also transferred four adult male foreign detainees from the Sandakan Immigration Depot on Thursday. They comprised one Nepalese, one Indian and two Pakistani nationals.
They were transferred by air from Sandakan Airport to KLIA2 before continuing their journey to their respective home countries.
Sitti Saleha said as of Oct 29, a total of 7,490 illegal immigrant detainees of various nationalities had been repatriated to their countries of origin.
Of the total, 5,357 were Filipinos, 1,789 Indonesians, 139 Pakistanis, 141 Chinese, 29 Vietnamese and 35 from other countries.
She said all the detainees had completed their sentences in accordance with the relevant legal provisions and possessed valid travel documents to facilitate their repatriation.
She advised employers to participate in the digital data registration programme for foreign nationals being implemented by the Sabah Government to help manage and record the presence of foreign workers in the State, particularly in the plantation sector.
Sitti Saleha said the initiative was expected to help address documentation issues and curb the presence of large numbers of illegal immigrants in Sabah.
“Sabah Immigration will not compromise and will take firm action against any employer who shelters or employs foreign workers without valid permits and travel documents.
“Employers found committing such offences may face action under the Immigration Act 1959/63, including fines of up to RM50,000, imprisonment and whipping, subject to the relevant legal provisions,” she said.
