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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia said Wednesday it will launch a massive
operation to deport tens of thousands of Filipino and Indonesian
illegal migrants from Borneo Island where they are blamed for drugs
and crime.
“We are ready to launch a large-scale
operation to flush out all illegal immigrants from the state of
Sabah and deport them,” Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told
reporters.
Najib said authorities will also bolster
security along Malaysia’s land and sea borders with the
Philippines and Indonesia to prevent further illegal crossings.
“The root cause is because the borders are
very porous and traditionally the people there do not recognize the
borders. They move in and out due to economic opportunities in Sabah,”
he said.
Sandwiched by the Philippines in the north, and
Indonesia’s Kalimantan to the south, resource-rich Sabah is a
magnet for immigrant workers who for decades have come to labor on
construction sites and oil palm plantations.
Sabah and neighboring Sarawak state make up
Malaysia’s half of the vast island of Borneo, which is shared with
Indonesia.
Authorities said there are 130,000 illegal
migrants in Sabah, but local politicians put the figure as high as
500,000.
Najib said that since the 1990s, at least
300,000 illegal migrants have been deported from Sabah.
“We are prepared to do even more in the
future. We have ascertained that this is a serious problem and the
people in Sabah want action to be taken,” he said.
Najib said Malaysian authorities will hold talks
with their counterparts in the Philippines and Indonesia to organize
the mass deportation.
The illegal settlers have been blamed for waves
of drugs and crime, and local politicians say they are also tipping
the ethnic balance against mostly Christian indigenous tribes who
used to dominate the population.
Malaysia’s government has been on a drive to
boost its standing in Sabah since March general elections that saw
unprecedented gains by the opposition alliance led by former deputy
premier Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who plans to form a new government with
the help of defectors from the ruling coalition, has been courting
disaffected lawmakers in Sabah and Sarawak.
-- AFP
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