|
Saturday, September 24, 2005
3 Pinoys rescued at sea off Sabah
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Three Filipino fishermen whose boat capsized off Sabah were rescued after four days at sea, Malaysian authorities said.
The trio were identified as Milharan Malanekali, 48, his brother Dilharan, 43, and son Bilman, 14. A fourth companion, Awang Ali Idris, 52, a former Malaysian policeman, is still missing.
Police said the four fishermen were rescued on Tuesday off Mantanani Island by a passing trawler, four days after their boat, battered by huge waves and strong winds, capsized.
It said the fishermen, believed attacked by jellyfish, had sting marks on their bodies and were exhausted. They were found together holding on empty plastic containers and wooden planks.
The boat left the island of Gaya in Sabah to fish, but the vessel capsized Friday and drifted the fishermen until a passing trawler rescued them.
Authorities said the fishermen were living in Sabah and were holders of IMM13 passes.
IMM13 documents were usually issued to Filipino refugees and their children who fled to Sabah in the 1970s at the height of the Moro secessionist war in the southern Philippines.
Malaysia is host to thousands of asylum seekers and refugees - primarily from Burma, Aceh and the Philippines - who have fled their countries for fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, and membership of a particular group.
But many Filipinos also searching for better pay go, or are brought in, to Sabah and then left stranded with no employment or subcontracted for temporary work with no permits or payments. And women are brought as tourists or under social visit passes, but many of them were either forced to work as bonded laborers, house maids, or sex workers. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(September 24, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Mayor junks seat in Charter change commission