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Migrante reveals plight of deported Pinoys in Malaysia

BAGUIO CITY (June 24) — Migrante International and the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) disclosed the plight of deported Filipino migrant workers in Malaysia after a joint fact-finding mission (FMM) from May 29 to June 6.

The FFM, conducted in Far South Mindanao, Zamboanga City, Basilan, and Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, revealed that the 2005 deportees are in a more miserable plight compared to the experiences of migrant Filipinos deported by the Malaysian government in 2002. The findings of the FMM are being withheld from the public by the current administration.

“This time, there are more children and infants who suffered the brutal arrest, detention and deportation procedures of the Malaysian government and the general neglect of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to their plight” reads the Migrante press statement.

Estimates of the Philippine government and various non-government organizations say that there are around 712,104 Filipinos working in Malaysia. As of December 2004, only 213,000 are considered by the Malaysian government to be legally employed, which means the rest are undocumented workers totaling to 499,104.

These undocumented Filipino workers labor in Malaysian factories, plantations, restaurants, clubs and construction sites.

Deportation horror

According to Migrante reports, deportees during the crackdown suffered from various human rights violations primarily because the 560,000-strong People’s Volunteer Corps (also called Relas) deputized to arrest undocumented workers were not trained in human arrest procedures, respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.

In the deportation procedure, deportees were handcuffed during transit from the jails to the pier. Their handcuffs were only removed when the ship left port. In the ship’s cargo area, the deportees suffered intense heat, poor ventilation and putrid odor. Undocumented Filipino migrants were deported in batches depending on the trip schedule of the vessel to Mindanao.

Migrante reports also mentioned that last June 4, some 150 deportees arrived at the Zamboanga Port, 20 children were rushed to the hospital due to vomiting and loose bowel movement (LBM). A two-year old girl died of severe vomiting and LBM at the Zamboanga City Medical Center after being detained and the severe conditions on the ship.

Deportees who have arrived in the Philippines now face homelessness and the absence of livelihood support from government.

While there were families deported together, most of the deportees either have only one of their parents or none at all. Children of undocumented Filipino migrants do not have documents such as birth certificates, which hinders them from attending school.

Migrante asserts that the Department of Foreign Affairs through the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia should conduct a massive registration in Sabah.

Likewise, their re-integration in their respective places of origin brings uncertainty to their lives and livelihood.

Based on the information gathered during the interviews with government officials in Basilan, Zamboanga and Tawi-tawi, the DSWD extended housing and livelihood projects for the 2002 deportees.

Migrante asserts that the same should be extended to the 2005 deportees and should be developed based on the interests of the recipients such as seaweed farming and fishing which are the primary sources of livelihood in those provinces. The government must also provide support services for health, education and other basic needs of deportees and their families.

Inhumane treatment

Moreover, the FFM found out that Filipinos and other detainees suffered inhumane, cruel and degrading treatment, malicious mischief and sexual harassment while in prison.

Women detainees were slapped, verbally abused and had to secure themselves from “peeping tom” guards.

Men, women and children alike were punished with 20 to 100 push-ups or were hit with truncheons when they exceeded the two-minute allocation for use of the toilet and bathroom.

Detainees were given spoiled food. For breakfast, they only had hot water. Other deportees were given three spoonful-meals only twice a day.

Detainees were crowded in cells with 150 to 400 detainees per cell. The jail cells do not even have windows. Detainees were made to sleep on the cold cement floor.

Adults and children suffered from vomiting and LBM during detention. Only a few medicines were given.

At least four Filipinos were arbitrarily detained on mere suspicion of conspiring with a certain Filipino drug pusher. They spent eight months in jail instead of the three months imprisonment for undocumented entry.

Republic Act 8042 allotted P100 million for a legal assistance fund and another P100 million for an emergency repatriation fund. Interviews with the deportees reveal that they were not provided with lawyers during their arrest and detention.

Migrante recommended that the House of Representatives, particularly the Committee on Foreign Affairs, conduct an investigation to ascertain where and how the funds were spent and require the DFA to submit a COA-audited report of the said funds.

“While the Malaysian government benefits economically from the fruits of the undocumented migrant workers’ labor, it continues to violate the human rights of undocumented migrant workers and their families,” the Migrante reports states.

Given these information gathered from the said FFM, Migrante calls for an independent investigation on the Philippine government’s accountability on the plight of thousands of Filipino deportees from Malaysia and victims of sex trafficking. Negligent government officials, including the President, should be punished.

Other organizations who joined the FFM include APMM, Muslim Christian Peoples Alliance (MCPA), Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP)-Karapatan, Bayan Muna Rep. Joel Virador, JAGA Human Rights and Holy Trinity Deanery of Southwestern Mindanao of the Episcopal Church of the Philippines (Zamboanga City). # via NORDIS

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