The Philippine Embassy has issued a warning to all Filipinos in Malaysia to bring their legal documents at all times following the end of Malaysia’s amnesty program for illegally staying Filipinos in the country last August 30 (Thursday).
An advisory had been issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) through its website regarding the announcement of Malaysian authorities that they will be launching a nationwide immigration crackdown starting August 31 (Friday), and that the voluntary deportation program will no longer be extended, as shared in a post by UNTV.
Filipinos in Malaysia Warned for Impending Immigration Crackdown
With regard to the nationwide immigration cleanup, Philippine Ambassador Charles Jose assured our kababayans in Malaysia that the Embassy will be ready to offer aid and assistance to those who will be affected by the crackdown.
Since the announcement of the amnesty program back in 2016, the Philippine Embassy has assisted over 5,800 Filipinos in Malaysia. Jose shared, however, that this number is still below 1% of the estimated 400,000 undocumented Filipinos living in the country.
Majority of the Filipinos living in Malaysia have been working on plantations, in business establishments, or as household service workers (HSWs) for many years already. Crackdowns against immigration violators in Malaysia in the past have led to the deportation of thousands of predominantly poor Filipinos, while others have spent years in Malaysian jails.
Because of this, the Philippine government urged Filipino illegal immigrants in Malaysia to come back home rather than be detained.
No matter what our reason for leaving the country to work abroad is, it’s important that we observe the law of the land where we live in, especially when the host government has already extended diplomatic assistance to help violators rectify their situation, to the best possible extent. And after all has been said and done, what ultimately stands is that no one is above the law.