Pinoy deportees feel alienated, hope to return to Sabah
MANILA, Philippines - More than 300 Filipinos who were ferried back to Zamboanga City are seeking government assistance to bring them back to Sabah while struggling to adapt to life in the Philippines.
GMA News’ Claire Delfin reported Monday that the recent batch of deported Filipinos from Malaysia feel like strangers in Mindanao after spending most of their lives in the Malaysian state in northern Borneo.
The report added that most of the deportees were separated from their relatives. There were also several children who cannot speak a single word in Filipino.
“I would always cry very late at night worrying about my loved ones," said Norsiah Osman, whose two young children were left in Sabah while her husband is detained in a Malaysian prison.
Osman, who is also six months pregnant, told GMA News in the interview that she would return to Sabah if the opportunity came her way.
Meanwhile, Salim Halil, a Borneo resident since 1973, echoed Osman’s concerns because his children were also left behind in Sabah during Malaysia’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
“I’m thinking about how to return there and get my kids," Halil said.
The deportees, mostly Muslims, arrived by boat in Zamboanga City on Saturday and were staying in refugee shelters under the care of social workers.
The Filipinos were mostly natives of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces who illegally crossed the border to Sabah to find work in construction sites and plantations.
Esteban Conejos Jr, DFA undersecretary for migrant workers’ affairs explained in an earlier report that the Filipinos often find no reason to secure a passport or visa in Sabah after settling there for years.
"They go back to Sabah because our ties [there] is so strong. They don’t understand why they need a Philippine passport and a visa to enter Sabah," Conejos said.
Malaysia began a crackdown on up to 500,000 illegal foreign workers since 2005 and police and immigration authorities and volunteer squads have been conducting searches that extended from construction sites in Kuala Lumpur to oil palm plantations in Sabah.
Kuala Lumpur had previously given amnesty that allowed illegal immigrants to leave the country with a promise they could return as legal workers once they received proper documents.
The government's tough action has enjoyed popular support in Malaysia, where illegal workers, who had numbered more than a million in a country of 24 million people, have been blamed for crime and other social ills.
The Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Zamboanga is urging Malacañang to conduct bilateral talks with Malaysia to ease the concern of Filipino deportees from Sabah.
“There must be a government to government negotiation concerning the problem of deportees," said Zenaida Arevalo, DSWD director in Western Mindanao.
The DSWD is reportedly coordinating with authorities in contacting the closest Filipino relatives of the deportees. The department is also launching a livelihood program to prevent the deported Filipinos from returning to Sabah. - GMANews.TV
GMA News’ Claire Delfin reported Monday that the recent batch of deported Filipinos from Malaysia feel like strangers in Mindanao after spending most of their lives in the Malaysian state in northern Borneo.
The report added that most of the deportees were separated from their relatives. There were also several children who cannot speak a single word in Filipino.
“I would always cry very late at night worrying about my loved ones," said Norsiah Osman, whose two young children were left in Sabah while her husband is detained in a Malaysian prison.
Osman, who is also six months pregnant, told GMA News in the interview that she would return to Sabah if the opportunity came her way.
Meanwhile, Salim Halil, a Borneo resident since 1973, echoed Osman’s concerns because his children were also left behind in Sabah during Malaysia’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
“I’m thinking about how to return there and get my kids," Halil said.
The deportees, mostly Muslims, arrived by boat in Zamboanga City on Saturday and were staying in refugee shelters under the care of social workers.
The Filipinos were mostly natives of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces who illegally crossed the border to Sabah to find work in construction sites and plantations.
Esteban Conejos Jr, DFA undersecretary for migrant workers’ affairs explained in an earlier report that the Filipinos often find no reason to secure a passport or visa in Sabah after settling there for years.
"They go back to Sabah because our ties [there] is so strong. They don’t understand why they need a Philippine passport and a visa to enter Sabah," Conejos said.
Malaysia began a crackdown on up to 500,000 illegal foreign workers since 2005 and police and immigration authorities and volunteer squads have been conducting searches that extended from construction sites in Kuala Lumpur to oil palm plantations in Sabah.
Kuala Lumpur had previously given amnesty that allowed illegal immigrants to leave the country with a promise they could return as legal workers once they received proper documents.
The government's tough action has enjoyed popular support in Malaysia, where illegal workers, who had numbered more than a million in a country of 24 million people, have been blamed for crime and other social ills.
The Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Zamboanga is urging Malacañang to conduct bilateral talks with Malaysia to ease the concern of Filipino deportees from Sabah.
“There must be a government to government negotiation concerning the problem of deportees," said Zenaida Arevalo, DSWD director in Western Mindanao.
The DSWD is reportedly coordinating with authorities in contacting the closest Filipino relatives of the deportees. The department is also launching a livelihood program to prevent the deported Filipinos from returning to Sabah. - GMANews.TV
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