31 January 2005 – DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Jose S. Brillantes today assured that the Philippine government is committed to ensure the orderly repatriation of undocumented Filipino migrants in Malaysia when the period for availing of the immigration amnesty program expires tomorrow, 01 February 2005, as he announced that measures are now in place to receive the Filipinos coming home from Malaysia.

“The government is adequately prepared with measures to deal with the expected influx of Filipino repatriates from Malaysia,” Undersecretary Brillantes stressed.   The Undersecretary also said that “on 17 January, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo reconvened the Philippine Inter-Agency Task Force, which was formed during the last amnesty granted by Malaysia in 2002 and one of the things that was decided upon is to designate Mr. Nur Jaafar as Presidential Special Representative to oversee the actions of the Inter-Agency Task Force.  Mr. Jaafar has a wealth of experience as a member of the original Task Force that handled the 2002 repatriation from Sabah and has extensive contacts in the area.”

Upon recommendation of the Task Force ,President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed the Special Authority for Mr. Jaafar, dated 20 January 2005.  Undersecretary Brillantes explained that “the  Presidential Special Authority designates the Honorable Nur Jaafar as Special Representative to effect and facilitate the orderly repatriation of Filipinos from Sabah, Malaysia and to request for an extension of the period of amnesty.”

During the 17 January meeting, Secretary Romulo presided over a high-level meeting at the Department of National Defense with representatives from the DND, Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Health, Labor and Employment, Interior and Local Government, the Bureau of Immigration, Philippine National Police, the Philippine Coast Guard, and Mr. Jaafar himself.  The meeting drew up plans and measures in anticipation of the arrival of repatriates through Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi.

“The Secretary’s greatest concern was to avoid last-minute and hastily drawn up measures and instead allow us to plan ahead to properly and adequately address the various concerns of the thousands of Filipino repatriates expected to enter through the South,” Undersecretary Brillantes said.

The Philippine Inter-Agency Task Force will have two teams stationed at two different locations to ensure that assistance to the Filipino repatriates are consistently and effectively given both at the point of departure in Sabah and the arrival point in Tawi-Tawi.  The team to be led by Mr. Jaafar in Sabah will have representatives from the DFA, DOLE, DSWD, DOH and PNP.  Another team, to be stationed in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, will be manned by representatives from the DFA, DOLE, DSWD, DOH, NSO, PNP, the Office of Muslim Affairs and the Philippine Navy.  The Inter-Agency team stationed in Tawi-Tawi will operate what is termed as the One-Stop Shop to address the various concerns of the repatriates such as registration, documentation, passport issuance and other forms of assistance.

The Philippine government, upon agreement of Malaysia, will also be sending Philippine Navy ships to offer free transportation to Filipinos.  It is expected that this will entice Filipinos in Malaysia to come home, especially those who have availed of the amnesty but do not have the funds for the trip to the Philippines.  The DFA will also be sending additional personnel to strengthen the staff complement of the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur during the repatriation period.

Mr. Jaafar went to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah on 22 January and met separately with Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa Hj Aman, Police Chief Commissioner Maj. Gen. Mangsor bin Ismael and other high-ranking officials in the area to emphasize the need to explore the possibility of the extending the period of amnesty and to ensure the orderly and systematic handling of repatriates to avoid the same problems encountered during the expiration of the 2002 amnesty program.  The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has also made representations with Malaysian Immigration Authorities to request for the extension of the deadline.

On 26 January, Mr. Jaafar, accompanied by Philippine Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Luis T. Cruz, called on the Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Azmi Khalid and reiterated the Philippine government’s concern about the orderly and systematic repatriation of Filipinos after the lapse of the amnesty’s deadline.  Minister Azmi, for his part, expressed sympathy for the Filipinos and that higher authorities in Malaysia are aware of the advocacy for the extension of the amnesty deadline, but granting such an extension requires the approval of the federal government.

On 22 October 2004, the Malaysian government granted amnesty to all illegal aliens in the country.  In this light, the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur immediately dispatched consular teams to Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau in an effort to attract undocumented Filipinos to avail of the amnesty before the 31 January 2005 deadline.  As of latest count, about 17,500 travel documents to have been issued by the Embassy but Malaysian authorities estimate that only about 6,600 Filipinos had actually left Malaysia.  Malaysian Police estimates that there are about 170,000 undocumented Filipinos in Sabah alone.  END
 
 

/jay