Malaysian envoy blames Pinoys for deportations

Malaysia’s ambassador said yesterday his country should not be blamed for the mass deportations of illegal Filipino workers and that Manila shares responsibility for crowding in Malaysian detention camps holding them.

"What’s going on is rather unfortunate but I stand by what I have said: It is the making of the Philippine people themselves," Malaysian Ambassador Mohamed Taufik told Associated Press Television News.

Malaysia launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigrants last month and some 300,000 undocumented workers – mostly Indonesians and Filipinos – have fled or been forced out in recent months.

The Philippines has filed two diplomatic protests with Malaysia over alleged maltreatment of Filipinos – one last week after three children died while being deported and another Wednesday over the alleged sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl by a Malaysian policeman.

Philippine officials say they will oppose the investigation of the young girl’s complaint in Malaysia.

Taufik said the alleged maltreatment is under investigation by Malaysian authorities, who have improved conditions in pre-deportation detention camps in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah.

He said Philippine authorities were partly to blame for crowding in detention camps after they ignored "ample notice" of a four-month amnesty period in which foreigners living and working illegally in Malaysia were allowed to leave voluntarily.

The amnesty expired July 31 but was extended for Filipinos to Aug. 24, Taufik said.

"We’ve been alerting them right to the very day of the deadline," he said. "We’ve done our part. There is no point in blaming us when they don’t want to admit they are more at fault."

Following a telephone call from President Arroyo last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad ordered a moratorium in the mass deportation of Filipinos.

"They have to make plans on how to bring back the remaining illegal immigrants (after the moratorium)," Taufik said. "They don’t even have a contingency plan. That’s what has been admitted by their own people here."

Taufik defended his country’s new immigration law, which he said would both protect Malaysians and prevent illegal immigrants from being victimized by unscrupulous employers.

"This is not targeted against Filipinos," he said.

He said despite stiff penalties and fines, the number of illegal immigrants in Malaysia has risen to a "critical level" of close to a million.

He also said he was "annoyed" by the burning of the Malaysian flag and portraits of Mahathir by Filipinos protesting the deportations but added that he understood the "more liberal" form of democracy in the Philippines.

"I think they should act rationally ... and look at the totality of our relations with the Philippines – what we are doing, what is at stake if they were to go on further," he said.

He said Malaysia, a wealthy country by Southeast Asian standards, has helped the Philippines become "more prosperous so their people will live in their own country."

He also said his government has helped in peace talks between Manila and Muslim separatist rebels in the southern Philippines and in a trilateral agreement, along with Indonesia, against terrorism.