Between the devil and the deep blue sea

The recent crackdown on illegal immigrants, mostly Filipinos, in Malaysia once again revealed the sense of hopelessness in many of our countrymen and the ugly face of man’s inhumanity to man.

Driven by the protracted Muslim separatist war in Mindanao, many fled to Sabah, only to find themselves persecuted in a foreign land, with their own government offering but a token response to their forced repatriation. Official estimates put the number of undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia at 80,000 souls.

The Malaysian government offered an amnesty that allowed illegal aliens to leave the country before August 24. However, fearing the lack of employment opportunities at home, esp. in Mindanao due to the decades-long conflict, many Filipinos chose to stay, hoping that the Malaysian government will not put teeth to its laws.

However, it did, and the outcome was totally unexpected. As of press time, at least 13 Filipino children have died in holding areas crammed with hundreds of illegal immigrants awaiting deportation in Sabah. Many are starving and dying of dehydration, and those who survived the passage from Sabah to Mindanao on jam-packed ships and “floating coffins” suffered from mental stress and malnutrition. At least five adult deportees have also died since the exodus began.

The recent report that some Malaysian policemen and jail guards have made sex slaves out of detained Filipino women, including one 13-year-old girl, further exposed the evils of men who prey on others’ vulnerabilities. And to highlight disparities between faiths, these Muslim authorities victimize only young Christian females.

However, despite these atrocities, more than 30 percent of those deported are scrambling to obtain passports in order to return to Sabah. Despite these cruelties, the Arroyo administration could only file a diplomatic protest, and would not even pressure the Malaysian government into prosecuting the perpetrators.

Clearly, the Filipino illegal alien suffering and starving in inhuman detention centers, or even still hiding, in Malaysia is facing a blank wall. His government is lame and had not even prepared for this contingency. Some parts of Mindanao are still at war, driving away investors that could have provided jobs. On the other hand, what he thought to be greener pasture turned out to be a black hole. Illegal aliens in Malaysia face a minimum of six months in jail and up to six strokes of the cane.

While we are deeply outraged and angered by this inhumanity suffered by our fellow Filipinos in Malaysia, we are equally contemptuous of the Arroyo administration’s lack of foresight in protecting the welfare of Filipinos overseas. But above all this, we are sad that our country is in the pits and that everybody seemingly wants to jump ship.

Indeed, we are caught “between the devil and the deep blue sea.” *

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