Migrant Watch 

Filipino Refugees from Sabah: Twice Displaced and Many Times Wronged

They were once the focus of national attention, the subject of extensive media coverage and of many photo-ops for the publicity seekers. Media reports of rape, mental and physical torture, and denial of food and medical services angered the public. But today, very little is being reported about the refugees from Sabah. Has the deportation stopped? Were those deported now suitably resettled and rebuilding their lives? Regrettably, no.

BY BULATLAT.COM

Filipino refugees are still landing in Sitangkay and Bongao in Tawi-tawi and in Zamboanga City. The only difference is that now they arrive in smaller numbers aboard commercial vessels, unlike last year when they arrived by the hundreds aboard Philippine Navy vessels that collected them from Malaysian prisons. Now, the refugees arrive twice a week en route to Zamboanga.  They come in groups of 10 or 20.

In 2002, at least 18,232 refugees landed in Western Mindanao and documented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The Tawi-tawi Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council however claims that a greater number of deportees were not recorded in the official DSWD register. These are mostly the undocumented Filipinos who have “self-deported,” avoiding arrest by the Malaysian police and finding their own means of transport to reach Philippine territory. They are estimated to be at least three times more than those listed by DSWD.

Government assistance program for the refugees is limited to providing free transportation to their places of origin. The refugees are in effect still denied the right to resettlement housing and livelihood assistance that will enable them to start the process of their reintegration into normal community life. This despite public assurance of support from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and high-profile fund raising campaigns by some government agencies and NGOs.

The Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC) reported that in the refugee communities in Patikul, Bongao and Sitangkay, several families live in a house. The crowded houses, made mostly of salvaged and flimsy materials, are reportedly in danger of collapsing. And left with no livelihood support, the refugees have to fend for themselves. Some cut down coconut trees to produce coco lumber. Others went into subsistence fishing. In Sitangkay, some engaged in gathering seaweed. If lucky, he could earn PhP15 in a day, barely enough to buy a kilo of rice. Mashed sweet potato or kamote often serves as the accompanying dish.

In a recent visit to Sitangkay, Labor Undersecretary Lazo promised PhP2.5 million for the refugees there. The undersecretary is however still scrounging for funds, according to sources within the department.

Many of the refugees want to return to Sabah and Malaysia despite the abuse they suffered in the hands of Malaysian police. The desire is particularly strong among those who have family members left there.  Many of these refugees, fleeing the war in Mindanao, have resettled in Malaysia. Today, without any protection and guarantees, they are being pushed back to the land and the war they once fled from.

The refugees though remain Filipinos at heart. They share the same partiality to noontime TV shows and soap operas like every other Pinoy masa (Filipino masses). Children learn to speak Filipino watching the shows. They still dream of someday returning to their land of birth, but only when peace reigns over their war-torn, violence-wracked communities.  Bulatlat.com 

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