SANDAKAN: About 550,000 undocumented immigrants in Sabah have been deported or have left the country voluntarily since 1990, said Sabah National Security Council secretary Datuk Rodzi Md Saad.
“The deportation to their country of origin is part of the government’s continuous commitment to handle the influx of immigrants into the country.
"The government has also been proactive in detecting and arresting people in integrated operations by the council, the Eastern Sabah Security Command, Immigration department, police and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency,” he told a press conference here.
The latest deportation involved 403 immigrants, aged between one and 66, to Zamboanga, Philippines yesterday.
The group involved 50 Filipinos from temporary detention centre here and 353 Filipinos from Kota Kinabalu.
Rodzi added that the public, especially employers, should cooperate and assist the authorities by alerting them to the presence of illegal immigrants.