KOTA KINABALU – A total of 280 undocumented migrants from the Philippines have been deported to their home country under the Immigration Department’s ongoing repatriation exercise to get rid of foreigners staying illegally in Sabah.
State immigration director Sh Sitti Saleha Habib Yusoff said the individuals concerned were initially arrested for various immigration offences, including illegally residing in Sabah.
She said they were then sent to the Sandakan Immigration Depot before being deported.
Sitti Saleha said the repatriation on September 26 was the tenth in a series of deportation conducted this year and the second for September.
The department had before this deported 750 other Philippine locals on September 7.
“The latest group comprised 97 men and 60 women, with 46 children aged under 12, and 5 infants aged 23 months and below.
Of the number of children, 27 are boys and 33 are girls. They were deported along with their respective parents.
The adults range from 18 years to 69 years, she said in a statement here today.
Sitti Saleha said the Filipinos were sent off via sea onboard the MV Antonia ferry.
She said the department wished to extend its thanks to the state government, the Philippines Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, the police, the Eastern Sabah Security Command, and other agencies involved in the exercise. – The Vibes, September 29, 2022
