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Saturday, October 02, 2004
Gov't facilitates reunion of 25 Pinoy kids estranged from parents in Sabah
MALACANANG Friday said government is working to reunite the 25 Filipino children detained in Sabah with their parents.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) are handling the matter, with the help of Malaysian authorities.
"The government has already taken steps to protect these children and to reunite them with their families soonest," said Bunye, who is also press secretary.
The 25 Filipino kids are among 43 "stateless" children at the temporary detention center in Menggatal, Kota Kinabalu. Although they are not prisoners, they were detained because they were undocumented aliens in Malaysia.
An estimated 400,000 undocumented Filipinos work in Sabah although thousands have been expelled due to Malaysia's tougher policy on undocumented aliens.
Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Jose Brillantes has ordered Philippine ambassador to Malaysia Romualdo Ong to look into the report and give the children assistance if it is proven that they are Filipinos.
Brillantes said the children will be given proper documentation such as written certifications that the detained children are indeed Filipino, travel documents and other immigration-related papers. JMR
(October 2, 2004 issue)
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