Sabah repatriates 542 illegal Filipino immigrants in latest crackdown

KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah Immigration Department has repatriated 542 Filipino migrants as part of its eighth series of repatriating illegal immigrants back to their country of origin.

In a statement here today, state immigration director Datuk Sh Sitti Habib Yusoff said the group of detainees repatriated comprised 422 men, 92 women, 24 children under the age of 12, and four infants aged 23 months and below.

She also said the adult detainees were aged between 13 and 78 years old.

“The children were sent home along with their parents. These involved Filipino detainees from the Kota Kinabalu, Papar and Tawau immigration depots.

“They were initially detained for committing offences under the immigration act 1959/63 and immigration regulations 1963,” she said. 

Last year, the Sabah Immigration Department also carried out 700 enforcement operations involving 1,437 arrests of illegal immigrants and 14 employers for various immigration offences. – The Vibes, March 30, 2023