KOTA KINABALU, SEPT 6 – The Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) in Sabah repatriated 652 illegal immigrants to their country of origin in the Philippines yesterday.
Its director, Datuk SH Sitti Saleha Habib Yusoff said all of them were repatriated via the Port of Sandakan to the Port of Zamboanga City, Philippines in the JIM Sabah relocation program.
he said, the average age of detainees involved in the transfer this time ranged from two months to 76 years.
“The children involved in repatriation are accompanied by their parents or guardians by sea using Vessel MV Antonia 1,” he said in a statement today.
He said the transferred foreigner had committed various offenses under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.
According to him, the frequency of the Filipino prisoner transfer program is subject to the cooperation of the country’s embassy in speeding up the documentation process and then repatriating them to their country of origin.
SH Sitti Saleha said, JIM Sabah continues to commit to carrying out enforcement operations and the transfer of illegal immigrants in line with the policies and legislation in force in curbing the issue in this state.
Meanwhile, he said a total of 3,118 Filipino detainees have been transferred so far involving sea and air transport, making a total of 4,809 foreigners repatriated. – Named
