68 Filipinos arrested in Malaysia crackdown

AT least 67 Filipinos were rounded up in Sarawak as Malaysia continues is crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The Borneo Post said the arrested Filipinos consisted of 56 Suluks, seven Badjaos and four Yakans from Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.

Sarawak Immigration Enforcement Chief Gary Belayong said the Filipinos were found hiding on a two-story house in Kipkomo by Malaysian authorities.

“All were Filipinos from the Southern Philippines. Most of them did not have proper documents,” Belayong said.

The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has already dispatched a team to the area to help the Filipinos and ensure that they are treated humanely.

Last month, three Filipino teenagers were killed during immigration operations by the Eastern Sabah Security Command against undocumented persons.

ESSCom secretariat division director Newmond Tibin identified the victims as Nordin Akang, 16, Lahudin Nasir, 17, and Alex Nasir, 18, of Kampung Bakau, Lahad Datu.

Newmond, however, denied that the three Filipinos were killed after being sprayed with gas during a crackdown at the Lahad Datu market, adding that the victims drowned while attempting to evade arrest.

“The Philippine embassy is deeply concerned about this turn of events, and even as the cause of the deaths of the three Filipinos, two of whom are minors, are being investigated, the embassy calls for humane treatment of undocumented individuals, including the manner by which operations are conducted,” the Philippine embassy said.

Lahad Datu was the site of a 2013 standoff between Malaysia’s security forces and claimants of Sabah from Tawi-tawi, led by the brother of the late Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.