Sabah deports 750 Filipinos

 ‘As Malaysia continues to fight off Sulu Sultanate heirs’ claims’ 

MALAYSIA has deported hundreds of alleged illegal Filipino immigrants arrested in various places in Sabah as Kuala Lumpur continues to fight off rightful financial claims of the heirs of the Sulu Sultanate.

The Immigration Department sent 750 illegal immigrants, aged between one and 88, back to the Philippines on September 6, according to The New Straits Times which also quoted Immigration Director-General, Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud as saying “the batch was deported via the Sandakan port to the Zamboanga City port in Philippines.”

“All of them had been detained at Tawau, Sandakan, Papar and Kota Kinabalu depots since 2020. Those deported involved 638 men, 81 women, 30 children under 12 years old and one under 23 months old. These children were either with their parents or guardians,” Khairul said.

Khairul added that there were delays to deport the illegal immigrants in the past due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “With regard to detainee management at the depots, all of them will undergo health screenings, including Covid-19 tests. Those tested positive will be isolated to ensure no spread of the virus as well as other infectious diseases,” he said, adding “this is in line with the standard operating procedures required by the Health Ministry. All detainees at all depots have received their vaccines and booster shots since 2020.”

The local government of Zamboanga has not issued any statement about the influx of deportees or whether they would be quarantined here or not before sending them back to their own places.  

Revenge?

The mass deportation came after a Spanish arbitration in Paris ordered the Malaysian government to pay $15 billion to eight of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram II's relatives in February. The award is the second-largest in arbitration history.

Although Malaysia has filed an appeal against the ruling, its repercussions have already been felt. The state oil company of Malaysia, Petronas, had assets reportedly seized by a Luxembourgian court recently.

History

The lawsuit focuses around a deal established in 1878 in which Sulu agreed to let the British North Borneo Company, a colonial business, exploit its slice of Borneo in exchange for a yearly fee.

The Sultanate would cede the territory under the terms of the English version of the contract. The original only makes a leasing commitment. Malaysia inherited Sabah and its associated debts when it gained independence from Britain in 1963, and for 50 years it sent 5,300 ringgit ($1,200) annually to the sultan's legitimate heirs.

According to Elisabeth Mason, an attorney for the claimants, this sets Sabah apart from other land grabs during the 19th century. It’s a rare, possibly unique instance of a colonial contract that continues unbroken into the current era, she claimed.

After a relative, Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, claimed to be the rightful sultan of Sulu and led a tragicomic invasion of Sabah in which 60 people lost their lives, Malaysia stopped making payments to the heirs in 2013.

The heirs threatened legal action, claiming breach of contract. After ignoring them for two years, Malaysia decided to skip out on hearings in Europe, giving the claimants' attorneys free rein to make their case.

The international arbitration agreement to which Malaysia is a party means that it will likely have to accept the outcome of any case brought before it. The court decided that the heirs were entitled to 15% of all profits made from fossil fuels and palm oil since 2013, as well as all profits expected to be made in the future. (The Mindanao Examiner and The Washington Independent)