MALAYSIA: OFFICIALS DENY ACCUSATIONS OF DEATHS AND SEXUAL ABUSE IN CAMPS FOR ILLEGAL FILIIPINO WORKERS
Record ID:
334732
MALAYSIA: OFFICIALS DENY ACCUSATIONS OF DEATHS AND SEXUAL ABUSE IN CAMPS FOR ILLEGAL FILIIPINO WORKERS
- Title: MALAYSIA: OFFICIALS DENY ACCUSATIONS OF DEATHS AND SEXUAL ABUSE IN CAMPS FOR ILLEGAL FILIIPINO WORKERS
- Date: 11th September 2002
- Summary: (U1) KOTA KINABALU, SABAH, MALAYSIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) 1. SLV MENGGATAL DETENTION CAMP IN KOTA KINABALU; SLV SECURITY FORCES AT GUARD HOUSE (2 SHOTS) 0.12 2. SLV MAIN OFFICE BLOCK IN DETENTION CAMP; SLV DETENTION CAMP ENTRANCE; SLV DETENTION BLOCKS WITHIN BARRICADED AREA (2 SHOTS) 0.22 3. SLV/MV WOMEN LOOKING OUT DETENTION CAMP (3 SHOTS) 0.35 4. MV OFFICIALS ENTERING DETENTION BLOCK FOR VISIT 0.41 5. MV FILIPINO DEPORTEES SLEEPING INSIDE DETENTION BLOCK (3 SHOTS) 0.59 6. (SOUNDBITE) (TAGALOG) FILIPINO WOMAN SAYING "Our main aim is to return home. We want them to send us back quickly. I want to return quickly because I am ill." 1.13 7. MV WOMEN DEPORTEES INSIDE DETENTION BLOCK; SCU BABY SLEEPING IN SWINGING COT; SCU /SLV YOUNG GIRL WASHING HER FACE WITH WATER FROM A BOTTLE (4 SHOTS) 1.34 8. SLV/MV FILIPINO MEN LOUNGING OUTSIDE DETENTION BLOCK; MV SECURITY OFFICER GUARDING DETENTION BLOCK (4 SHOTS) 1.55 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALAYSIAN TASK FORCE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR SIDIN ABDUL KARIM SAYING "I will rebut that. Ill-treatment does not exist. I deny that." 2.01 10. MV FILIPINO WOMEN WITH THEIR CHILDREN 2.04 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIDIN ABDUL KARIM SAYING "They are always only asking when they will be sent back. But we explain to them we can send them back tomorrow if they have their travel documents issued by their embassy in Kuala Lumpur. If they do not have that, we cannot do anything because that is a requirement. That's why sometimes some of them are detained here for a very long time, because they don't have the travel documents." 2.25 12. SCU TILT UP OF GIRL TO FILIPINA MOTHER HAIDAR ABDULLAH 2.35 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FILIPINA DEPORTEE HAIDAR ABDULLAH SAYING "Malaysia of course I still believe is peaceful place. I also like it here. It's much better here than the Philippines, actually. I'd like to stay here. So if they are comparing the Philippines with here, here is better than the Philippines." 2.56 14. SLV FILIPINO'S LOUNGING WITHIN FENCED AREA; SLV PAN GUARDTOWER TO CAMP ENTRANCE 3.14 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th September 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KOTA KINABALU, SABAH, MALAYSIA
- Country: Malaysia
- Reuters ID: LVA8NSCZVZRMET9RGZZWINA38088
- Story Text: Accusations of deaths and sexual abuse in Malaysian
camps for illegal Filipino workers are straining relations
between the two Asian countries but Malaysian officials deny
any incidents of ill-treatment.
The Malaysian government expressed outrage last week
after allegations came to light that a policeman at a camp in
Malaysian Sabah sexually abused a 13-year-old Filipina girl.
A Filipino diplomat has alleged 12 children died in detention.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo wrote a stinging letter
to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad last Wednesday
protesting the alleged rape, which her foreign ministry said
"may constitute an act of aggression against civilisation itself".
Relations between Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia
have soured since Kuala Lumpur's plan to cane illegals became
law on August 1, spurring several hundred thousand people to
flee.
Demonstrators in Manila and Jakarta have denounced
Malaysia, burning the country's flag. But the two governments
had played down the row until Arroyo fired off the letter.
Good relations are important to Malaysia, Indonesia and
the Philippines. The countries were among founding members of
the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations, which
aims to build itself into a formidable economic bloc.
But reports about the deaths of young Filipino children in
Sabah prompted Manila to send a delegation to the Borneo
island state last Monday checking out hundreds of would-be
deportees in the detention camps.
At the Menggatal camp near Kota Kinabalu in Sabah,
hundreds of Filipinos are separated into male and female
sections of the camp, which houses a maximum of 3,500.
However, Malaysian task force assistant director Sidin
Abdul Karim says only 500 people usually stay in the camp.
Most of the deportees sleep or lounge in the wooden blocks
covered with zinc roofs, while the windows are barred by
chicken wire. The entire camp is fenced in with guardtowers.
"Our main aim is to return home. We want them to send us
back quickly. I want to return quickly because I am ill,"
shouted a Filipina sleeping on the ground.
Outside the blocks, Filipino men hang around as children
play and wash up.
Sidin says the deportees get food three times a day and
the sick are given medical treatment, denying ill-treatment.
"I will rebut that. Ill-treatment does not exist. I deny
that," Sidin told Reuters Television.
He says the deportees just want to return home quickly.
"They are always only asking when they will be sent back.
But we explain to them we can send them back tomorrow if they
have their travel documents issued by the embassy in Kuala
Lumpur. If they do not have that, we cannot do anything
because that is a requirement. That's why sometime some of
them are detained here for a very long time because they don't
have the travel documents," Sidin said.
Young Filipina mother Haidar Abdullah cried as she
clutched her daughter.
"Malaysia of course I still believe is peaceful place. I
also like it here. It's much better here than the Philippines,
actually. I'd like to stay her so if they are comparing the
Philippines with here, here is better than the Philippines,"
Haidar said.
But Indonesian officials say the deportees will remain for
only a short while, pending talks between Kuala Lumpur and
Manila to resume the repatriation programme.
They have put the number of deaths among illegals and
their families in the Nunukan area at 28 across Sabah's border
in Kalimantan. Though aid workers say the death toll is
nearer 70 caused by diseases from dirty water, poor sanitation
and bad nutrition.
Kuala Lumpur has ramped up deportations since August's
expiry of an amnesty allowing its hundreds of thousands of
undocumented immigrants to leave without charge.
About 70,000 of the estimated half a million Philippine
citizens in Malaysia have been leaving the country since
February, when Malaysia began its get-tough policy on illegal
workers.
Most of the immigrants who have fled the country are
Indonesians. They had made up some 80 percent of the 318,000
people officials said had left by the August deadline.
Employers have criticised the clampdown, saying it will
damage Malaysia's export-driven economy which relies on
foreign workers for many of the undesirable and more dangerous
jobs that wealthier Malaysians don't want to do.
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