RP-Malaysia Working Group on Migrants Workers not working – Migrante

Human rights abuses remain

Migrante International today said the working group created bilaterally by the Philippines and Malaysian governments regarding the migration problems between the two countries is only on papers.

"It's not really working," Migrante chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado said after a meeting with the officials of an inter-agency committee in Zamboanga City on Friday.

Migrante International together with Gabriela Rep Luzviminda Ilagan, and Atty. Clare Padilla of the National Union of People's Lawyers and Engender Rights is conducting a Fact Finding Mission since October 2 and will end on October 6.

"Officials of this inter-agency committee do not have coordination whatsoever with Malaysian government. They're functioning based on what their agencies can do without coordinating them with the government that is supposed to be their partner," Regalado added.

Regalado added representatives from the agencies involved in the said committee didn't even mention on how the RP-Malaysia working group is working.

The migrant leader also said member agencies of the inter-agency committee themselves are not coordinating their actions regarding the deportation of thousands of undocumented migrant Filipino workers in Sabah, Malaysia.

"For example, the Department of Labor and Employment, which head the committee, is only concerned on how the deported undocumented Filipinos can go back to work in Sabah. The same goes with the DFA, whose job is to process working visas so that deportees can go back to Sabah," Regalado said.

Also in the inter-agency committee are the DSWD, OWWA, DND, TESDA, NSO, NBI, BOI and the Office of the Muslim Affairs.

Regalado said the government is putting band aid solutions to long standing problems regarding the issue.

"The problem is that Filipinos keep coming back to Sabah because they can't find jobs in the Philippines. They also seek refuge because of the historic and ongoing war in Mindanao," said Regalado.

Migrante also scored the so called livelihood projects of government agencies for the deportees.