Air-con buses used to ferry illegal immigrants from the Papar Immigration Detention Depot to the Sandakan Port.-Bernama photo
PAPAR (Feb 7): The repatriation process for 157 illegal immigrants (PTI) from the Papar Immigration Detention Depot to the Sandakan Port to facilitate their return to their respective countries was carried out Wednesday morning.
Four comfortable air-conditioned tour buses were used in the transportation of the illegal migrants.
A Bernama survey on Wednesday morning at the depot found the documentation process for the repatriation process, which began at 10 pm on Tuesday, went smoothly before departing at 6 am yesterday for an eight-hour journey of about 400 kilometres, before they (illegal migrants) were scheduled to board vessels to return to their respective countries.
The repatriation process followed the standard operating procedure (SOP) that had been set, whereas security controls involving the Royal Malaysian Police, Immigration Department, and medical officers from the Ministry of Health accompanied the buses.
The Papar Immigration Detention Depot is situated about 45 km south of Kota Kinabalu and can accommodate approximately 2,000 PTI detainees at a time. The detainees comprise various nationalities including those from the Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan, who had violated immigration regulations.
The detention period for PTI depends on the documentation process by the country of origin before they are sent back to their respective countries.
A total of 1,773 illegal immigrants from the Philippines have been deported from Sabah, including 278 individuals on Wednesday.
Sabah Immigration director Datuk SH Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said the Filipinos deported on Wednesday comprised 121 individuals from the Sandakan Immigration Depot, while the remaining (157) were from the Papar Immigration Depot.
“They were sent home by ferry from the Sandakan Port this afternoon,” she told reporters during the deportation of the Filipinos at the port here on Wednesday.
According to SH Sitti Saleha, the group sent home on Wednesday involved 159 men, 79 women and 40 children.
She said 757 Indonesian illegal immigrants were awaiting deportation in the state. – Bernama