Sabah deports 800 Filipino detainees from Sandakan as six more weekly repatriation exercises planned

Sabah Immigration deported 800 Filipino detainees to Zamboanga City from Sandakan Port aboard MV Antonia 1 on 29 October, bringing the number of Filipinos sent home this week to 1,069. Its director said six more exercises involving 800 people each week are planned to prevent overcrowding at detention depots.

Sabah deported 800 Filipino detainees to Zamboanga City in the Philippines aboard MV Antonia 1 from Sandakan Port on Thursday 29 October, The Star reported. Sabah Immigration director Datuk Sh Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said the department planned six more large-scale repatriation exercises to prevent overcrowding at immigration detention depots. She said:

"We have six more repatriation exercises planned, involving large groups of 800 people each week, starting this week and continuing thereafter. We hope this will prevent overcrowding at detention depots in Sabah."

Who was sent home

The detainees came from the Tawau, Sandakan and Papar immigration depots and were aged between 16 days and 83 years, with the children accompanied by their parents or guardians. The Daily Express reported that the exercise marked the 188th deportation series this year.

This week and this year

Together with 269 Filipinos repatriated via the Lahad Datu ICQS Port on 27 October, the exercise brought the number of Filipinos sent home this week to 1,069. Sabah has repatriated 7,490 detainees of various nationalities so far this year, including 5,357 Filipinos and 1,789 Indonesians, according to both reports.

Call to embassies and employers

Sitti Saleha urged embassies to expedite the issuance of travel documents so detainees could be sent home promptly. "Our target is to send them home as soon as possible after they are handed over by enforcement agencies or have completed their sentences. If possible, we want them repatriated within a month," she said. She said the space freed up at detention depots would allow the Immigration Department and other enforcement agencies to intensify operations against undocumented migrants, and employers were reminded to ensure foreign workers under their supervision held valid documents.

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