122 deportees from Sabah arrive in Tawi-Tawi

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - More than a hundred more deportees from Sabah arrived Tuesday night in the capital of Tawi-Tawi amid the intensified crackdown by Malaysia on undocumented aliens in the oil-rich island state.

The Humanitarian Emergency Action and Relief Team (HEART) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the office of Tawi-Tawi Gov. Nurbert Sahali are  helping the deportees to return  their provinces, according to ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia.

Of the 122 deportees, 44 are from different island towns in Tawi-Tawi, 18 are from Basilan, 37 are ethnic Tausogs from Sulu, while eight others are from Zamboanga City.

“The rest are from provinces outside of ARMM,” said the region’s social welfare secretary, Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman.

The deportees are  presently staying in relief sites in Bongao, capital town of Tawi-Tawi.

Lucman, who is the ARMM’s incumbent regional vice governor, emphasized,  said Malaysia’s intensified campaign against undocumented aliens does not selectively target Filipinos.

Other nationals staying illegally in Malaysia have also been deported, he said.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, who oversees the operation of the HEART, released on Wednesday an initial P200,000 cash assistance for the food of the deportees and the fare for their travel to their respective provinces.

Hataman said the ARMM’s social welfare department will help the office of Tawi-Tawi’s governor attend to the needs of the 122 deportees while they are undergoing documentation prior to their return to their places of origin.

Hataman said the new batch of deportees is composed of 116 adults and six children.

An unnamed ailing deportee was rushed to the Tawi-Tawi provincial hospital in Bongao for medication.