16,000 ILLEGALS IN SABAH STATE DEPORTED THIS YEAR

KOTA KINABALU (Malaysia), Nov 4 (Bernama) -- More than 16,000 illegal
immigrants in East Malaysia state of Sabah, mostly from the Philippines and
Indonesia, had been deported up to October this year, State Secretary Sukarti
Wakiman disclosed Monday.

He said this was the result of a series of operations, carried out from Aug
7 to Oct 31, on Sabah's west coast to nab illegals for deportation to their
country of origin.

Sukarti said 30,000 people were checked during that period and out of
them, about 3,200 illegals were deported.

"We will be extending our Ops Sepadu to Sabah's east coast and
other areas.

"We hope that with the cooperation of all quarters, especially the
enforcement authorities such as the Immigration Department, People's Volunteer
Corps (Rela), police, National Registration Department and Rukun Tetangga
(neighbourhood watch programme), we can prevent the influx of illegals into
Sabah," he said when touching on the issue on the "Persepsi" (Perception)
programme carried live by national broadcasting station, Radio Televisyen
Malaysia (RTM)'s TV1 Monday night.

Sukarti said the efforts showed the seriousness of the federal and
state governments in solving the problem of the presence of illegals in
Sabah.
-- BERNAMA