Deportees Arrive Anew Bongao - A 14 year old was one among deportees (from Sabah) who is being closely monitored by social welfare (SW) officials this week. Regional Ports Manager Hanie Bud visited the Port to monitor the arrival of 200 deportees (some of who will be sent to Zamboangas shelter) . SW officials told us that the terminal in Bongao is their temporary shelter. They view that putting them far from the port would not be beneficial for the deportees who are more likely to be leaving with their relatives in their homes in the islands. Last February, a major LGU and regional forum was conducted on the plight of deportees . John Unson reported that Local officials have expressed concern that they might be unable to cope with the possible massive return to the country soon of thousands more of undocumented Filipinos from Malaysia. Malaysian Fuad Nadal who brought business chambers to the ARMM Business Conference in Bongao told us that locals and the Consulate in Kota Kinabalu , Malaysia need to be more pro-active in problem-solving on the deportations which come regularly . Identity is an issue because of the lack of documents ie birth certificate of these deportees. Amnesty is being mentioned for the undocumented Filipinos for them to avail of documentation and eventually a passport. ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia is helping ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman oversee the operations of the regional government’s Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Relief Team (HEART), which is helping attend to the needs of Filipinos returning from Malaysia. Sahali, who is in her first term as congressional representative of Tawi-Tawi, said while their provincial government has limited resources and capabilities, they have not stopped from providing relief and rehabilitation services to deportees. Sahali had recommended putting up relief outfits and processing centers to enable the documentation of Filipinos forced out of Malaysia before they are returned to their towns of origin in the autonomous region and in other parts of the country. Sahali, who had served as regional social welfare secretary of ARMM from 2005 to 2007, said there is also an urgent need for socio-economic interventions, such as livelihood generation, to help the Filipinos from Malaysia. Alamia said they will monitor the influx of deportees from Malaysia and work closely with the office of Sahali and the Tawi-Tawi governor in providing relief and rehabilitation services. (with reference to February report of John Unson)
Posted on: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 22:38:57 +0000
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