Khairul inspecting the deportation process at the Sandakan port.
KOTA KINABALU (Sept 7): Some 750 Filipino illegal immigrants have been deported by the Sabah Immigration Department.
Immigration director-general Datuk Sri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the illegal immigrants were among those detained and placed at the Immigration Deportation Centres in Tawau, Sandakan, Papar and Kota Kinabalu.
“The illegal immigrants, comprising 638 men, 81 women, 30 children and an infant, aged between one and 88 years old, were deported from Sandakan port to Zamboanga City in the Philippines on Sept 6,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Khairul said since January this year, the Sabah Immigration Department had deported 1,519 illegal immigrants of various nationalities.
He said between Jan 1 to Aug 29, the Sabah Immigration department had carried out 67 deportations with 332 illegal immigrants deported by air; 1,186 by sea and one by land.
“The deportation process in Sabah was initially delayed as the detainees’ countries of origin claimed they were unable to take back their citizens due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“All the detainees at the Sabah Immigration Deportation Centers will go through the Covid-19 health screening process.
“Those suspected of having Covid-19 will be isolated to prevent the virus from spreading, in line with the standard operating procedure by the Malaysian Health Ministry,” he said, adding that all the illegal immigrants detained at the Sabah Immigration Deportation Centers since 2020 have received and completed vaccination.