Sabah repatriates 353 Filipino illegal immigrants

SANDAKAN: A total of 353 Filipino illegal immigrants were repatriated from here Tuesday night, according to the National Security Council.

Its director for Sabah, Datuk Rodzi Md Saad, said in a statement today that the 172 men, 89 women and 92 children, aged between six months and 66 years, were sent in a ferry to Zamboangna in the Philippines.

He said 697 illegal immigrants were repatriated to their home countries from Sabah this month, and the number sent back up to now from last year totalled 12,670.

He also said that the number of illegal immigrants who went back on their own and who were repatriated since 1990 was 565,242.

Rodzi said the repatriation of illegal immigrants was part of the government commitment to address the illegal immigrant problem in the state.

He said the government took proactive action in detecting and arresting illegal immigrants through various integrated operations conducted by the council, the Eastern Sabah Security Command, Immigration Department, Police and Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency.

He advised employers and the public to cooperate with the enforcement agencies in addressing the illegal immigrant problem, saying they should inform the authorities on the presence of the illegal immigrants and refrain from sheltering them. — Bernama