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FILIPINO diplomat said Malaysia’s economy could collapse
if its government pursues the deportation of
undocumented Filipino migrant workers, whose number has
already reached 400,000.
He made the statement amid the ongoing
crackdown on illegal migrants, mostly Filipinos and
Indonesians working in plantations and factories in
Sabah. An initial 250 Filipinos were deported last week
to Zamboanga City, and Malaysian authorities had
indicated thousands more will be sent home.
The deportations take center stage in
the Fifth Philippines-Malaysia Working Group Meeting on
Migrant Workers to be held on July 21 and 22 at the
Heritage Hotel in Pasay City.
The bilateral meeting that started in
2005 is an annual forum to address bilateral concerns on
the status of Filipino migrant workers in Malaysia.
“Even if the Malaysian government were
serious in deporting all illegal migrants there, it
cannot shoulder all the logistics of moving out the
entire 400,000 undocumented Filipino workers,” said the
Filipino diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He stressed: “Removing all the
undocumented workers, especially the Filipinos, will
even cause the collapse of the economy of Malaysia.”
Meanwhile, Esteban Conejos Jr., foreign
affairs undersecretary for migrant workers affairs, who
heads the Philippine delegation in the meeting with
Malaysia, said the forum is timely in view of the
current crackdown on illegal workers in Malaysia.
“The issues expected to be discussed
during the meeting are the overall status of Filipino
migrant workers and refugees [IMM13 cardholders],” said
Conejos.
He said the two governments will also
tackle the recruitment of Filipino workers; arrest,
detention and repatriation processes of the undocumented
workers and the programs to regularize their stay in
Malaysia through the issuance of machine-readable
Philippine passport.
The two parties will also discuss common
security concerns like human trafficking, border control
and immigration.Conejos said he hopes the meeting with
Malaysian authorities would ensure the welfare and
protection of documented Filipino workers, as well as
the orderly repatriation of undocumented workers. |
