Protesters condemn deportation

A group of women held a protest rally in front of the Malaysian embassy yesterday morning to denounce the Malaysian police for the sexual abuse of deported women detained at the processing centre in Sabah.

The women's group, Makalaya, asked Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed to "help stop the sex slavery of Filipinas" at the deportation centre in Tauao, adding that other Filipinas might suffer the same fate in the other detention centres in Sinadakan and Kota Kinabalu.

The protesters denounced the alleged "immorality and gross violation of human rights of the Filipino deportees".

At the same time, Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit confirmed that his department will test returning deported Filipinas for sexually transmitted diseases.

"We will do it quietly. We will not release the results of the test," said Dayrit. He noted that his department will protect the privacy of the deported women.

At the same time, small boats with 50 activists depicted at the Manila Bay yesterday the plight of the deported Filipinos .

"Mahathir – George Bush of Asia," read one of the placards carried by the activists from the National Movement of Filipino Fishermen and the International League of People's Struggle, who participated in the rally.

"The United States' borderless war on terrorism has reached the Malaysian soil," said Fernando Hicap, chairperson of the fishermen's group.

"The U.S. borderless war on so-called terrorism inspired Malaysian authorities to terrorise Filipinos in the form of crackdown and deportation," he added.

The activists, with small children in their arms, sailed into Manila Bay, their boats filled with cartons, sacks of used clothes, plastic containers, sleeping mats, old pillows, kitchenware and other paraphernalia.

For several weeks, Kuala Lumpur has denied the claims of protesters who have been picketing the Malaysian embassy over alleged harsh treatment of deported Filipinos in Sabah.

Mahathir has ordered a moratorium on the deportation of undocumented Filipinos. He has also allowed the entry of a Philippine delegation to look into the allegations of inhuman and harsh treatment by the Malaysian authorities.

"The response of President Gloria Arroyo to the issues involving the Filipino-Muslim deportees is as useless as its employment programme," said the protesting labour groups.

Meanwhile, in Sabah, Arroyo's adviser on Muslim Affairs, Nur Jaafar, said he and his eight-man team would identify the complaints aired by the deported Filipinos in a meeting with Malaysian authorities today.

"We received many complaints from the deportees. We have been looking into these (reports about sexual slavery), but we still have to validate them. We don't have any evidence right now," Jaafar told the CNN.