ZAMBOANGA CITY – About 395 illegal Filipinos immigrants who were detained in Sabah were deported to the Philippines on board a cargo commercial vessel of the Aleson Shipping Lines serving the Zamboanga City-Sandakan, Malaysia route.
The deportees arrived in this city shortly before noon on Sunday on board M/V Antonia Aleson. Most of the 395 deportees were female and minors.
Local residents here expressed fear of acquiring the coronavirus (COVID-19) from the deportees considering that many people in Malaysia were afflicted with the virus.
The Malaysian government is set to deport a total of 5,300 Filipino illegal immigrants in Malaysia who are currently detained in different jails in Sabah.
The Malaysian government said it will deport 400 Filipino illegal migrants every 15 days.
The deportees were met by the local and government officials at the local port here about 10 a.m.
Malaysian medical teams conducted a swab and test on the deportees to make sure that they were free of coronavirus.
The Malaysian government has assured the Philippine government that virus-infected deportees will be treated first before they are sent back to the country, the Malaysian government said. (Nonoy E. Lacson)
