Over 4,000 Filipinos quit Sabah since Sulu crackdown, says Manila

Police detain two men at Tanjung Labian, in Lahad Datu, March 6, 2013. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, March 29 ― A total of 4,771 Filipinos have fled Sabah since the Malaysian authorities began ferreting out Sulu militants and their sympathisers early this month, the Philippine disaster risk council said today.

The Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) was quoted by Philippine news portal InterAksyon today as saying that 944 families have left Sabah for the Basulta (Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi) region in southern Philippines as of yesterday, comprising 2,861 adults and 1,860 children.

“The number of Filipinos fleeing Sabah is expected to continue increasing as the crisis remains unresolved and amid a crackdown by Malaysian authorities on both undocumented aliens and those suspected of supporting the sultanate,” InterAksyon reported today.

Philippine media have reported allegations of human rights abuses against Filipinos in Sabah, including claims of extrajudicial killings by Malaysian security forces as they continue to hunt down the remnants of Sulu “crown prince” Agbimuddin Kiram’s armed followers.

But no evidence of the violations has been produced and Putrajaya has called the claims a “fabrication”.

InterAksyon reported today that 10.39 million pesos (RM787,205) worth of food and non-food items have been provided to the Filipino evacuees, as well as an allocation of 13.403 million pesos for other humanitarian operations.

The Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development also reportedly plans to set up a 24/7 one-stop processing centre in Tawi-Tawi to provide the Filipino evacuees with psychosocial intervention, legal documents, skills training and livelihood assistance.

The Philippine senate has demanded its government hold Malaysia accountable for possible human rights violations against the 800,000-strong Filipino migrant community in Sabah, at the hands of local authorities searching for a ragtag band of Sulu militants claiming ownership of the north Borneo state.

Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said last Tuesday that the crackdown against Sulu militants who invaded Sabah last month has turned into a protracted, low-intensity conflict akin to hunting for fish in water.

Gazmin was reported by Manila Standard Today as saying that 12 battalions of soldiers and policemen, or more than 7,000 men, were searching for Agbimuddin, who is a brother of self-proclaimed Sulu “sultan” Jamalul Kiram III.

Malaysian authorities believe that Agbimuddin has fled Sabah, but their Philippine counterparts have said that he has yet to be found in the republic.

Agbimuddin led a group of 235 armed militants to Lahad Datu, Sabah, on February 9 to stake the sultanate’s claim over the north Borneo state.

As of last Friday, the incursion has resulted in the deaths of 63 Sulu militants, according to figures from Malaysian security forces, as well as 10 Malaysians, including eight policemen and two soldiers.

Malaysia launched “Ops Daulat” on March 5 to flush out the armed southern Filipinos after weeks of negotiation failed to result in a peaceful resolution.

Manila has said it will not abandon the sultanate’s claim over Sabah, even as Malaysian authorities insist the claim is no longer valid due to the inclusion of the state in the 1963 Malaysia agreement.