ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - - The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) regional government expressed alarm over the wave of deportees that could reach more than 200,000 arriving in Tawi-Tawi as the Malaysian authorities started the crackdown on illegal aliens and demolition on the villages on the coastal areas in Sabah, according to an official.
Lawyer Laisa Alamia, ARMM Executive Secretary, said the regional government was anticipating the deportation of more than 200,000 Filipinos who will be expelled from Sabah as a result of the crackdown operation.
“The deportation is alarming because Malaysia started the demolition of the water villages and crackdown on the undocumented citizens of which many are Filipinos who have been living in Sabah,†Alamia told newsmen here following their visit in Tawi-Tawi province Wednesday to assess and establish the need for mitigating measures.
According to Alamia, based on the estimate population data there are about 600,000 undocumented Filipinos staying in Sabah. Some are illegal migrant workers, while others have been staying as residents for decades.
She said even those about 300,000 documented Filipinos in Sabah, who are residents in the so called water villages, have no assurance if they will be spared from being deported as demolition has started.
“The wave of deportations had already started and even the passport itself is not an assurance that they will be spared,†Alamia added.
The ARMM executive secretary said that since the fourth quarter of last year the social welfare office in Tawi-Tawi has listed 1,113 deportees repatriated by the Malaysian authorities.
Alamia said the deportees were arriving by the hundreds twice a week. On Thursday last week about 198 deportees were sent to and arrived in this city.
This prompted the regional ARMM government to sit down with the provincial government of Tawi-Tawi led by Gov. Norbert Sahili and Rep. Ruby Sahali, local government units and private sector to assist the wave of deportees arriving in the province.
Alamia said they will be establishing a one-stop processing center and temporary shelter for those who will be deported back from Sabah.
The private sector also participated in finding ways to assist the deportees in their livelihood program.
However, Alamia believes more should be done.
“In the absence of the resolution of the Sabah issue, this problem will go on,†Alamia said.
Alamia said Zamboanga City can not host the deportees, citing that the city itself is still on the rehabilitation process because of the thousands of victims displaced following the September 9 siege staged by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Nur Misuari faction.
Gov. Mujiv Hataman and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa will be meeting next week as measures will be presented for the intercession of the national government on the deportation issue.
Samera Gutoc-Tumawis, who was representing the private sector, urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Malacañang to create a focal group that will directly coordinate with the Malaysian government to find ways on the displacement of illegal Filipino migrants in Sabah.
“Let us turn this irritant as opportunity. They (deportees) are not victims only, they are employable because many of them are skilled workers,†Tumawis said.