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The Filipinos in Sabah Unauthorized, Unwanted and Unprotected Maruja M.B

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The Filipinos in Sabah Unauthorized, Unwanted and Unprotected Maruja M.B 7 The Filipinos in Sabah Unauthorized, unwanted and unprotected Maruja M.B. Asis Introduction The massive deportations carried out by Malaysia in 2002 called attention to the manifold issues and tangled realities of unauthorized migration.1 Alarmed by the unabated presence of unauthorized migrants – often referred to as ‘illegal migrants’ or ‘illegals’ – Malaysia resolved to amend its Immi- gration Act to deal decisively with unauthorized migration by way of more punitive measures.2 Effective from 1 August 2002, the amendments provide for unauthorized workers to be caned, gaoled for six months and/or fined M$10,000. The riots staged by Indonesian workers in January 2002 pro- vided the Malaysian government with a rationale to hasten the crackdown, beginning with the decision to make Indonesians a last priority in the hiring of migrant workers. Indonesians comprise the majority of some 1.2 to 1.7 million migrant workers in Malaysia.3 Discourses on unauthorized migra- tion as a ‘problem’ were heard in Malaysia, as well as in the Philippines and Indonesia, the countries most affected by the forced repatriations of their nationals. In Malaysia, the problem was linked to enforcement and national security, concerns which justified the deportations. Meanwhile, in the Philippines and Indonesia, media reports chronicled the tragic toll of the deportations, especially as the deadline approached. Malaysia’s unrelenting stance strained relations with its neighbours. In the Philippines, outrage over the treatment of Filipinos reignited calls to review its claim to Sabah.4 Closer to the deadline, the arrests and deportations intensified, resulting in overcrowding in detention centres. Migrants rushed home, congesting ports, ships and reception areas. Malaysia eventually extended the grace period to 31 August. In the rush to beat the deadline, Nunukan Island in East Kalimantan became emblematic of the humanitarian crisis created by the new policy. An exit and entry point for Sabah, Nunukan found itself swamped by some 20,000 to 30,000 (another report cited 40,000) Indone- sians expelled from Malaysia. As thousands of migrants descended on Nunukan, reports detailed the health conditions of migrants. Makeshift camps were set up – many more migrants slept in whatever open spaces they could find, where lack of water and unsanitary conditions made them The Filipinos in Sabah 117 susceptible to health problems. As of 31 August, as many as sixty-three migrants, including children, had died. The major causes of death were meningitis, malaria, diarrhoea, typhoid and respiratory diseases (Asian Migration News, 15 September 2002). In the Philippines, migrants arrived either in Zamboanga City or Tawi- Tawi. The local government in these areas had for many years routinely dealt with deportations. However, the 2002 deportations were different because they attracted national attention. In addition, non-government organizations (NGOs) were visibly involved in responding to the emergency and rehabilitation needs of the deportees. At the height of the deportations, government agencies and NGOs carried out several funding drives and initiated reintegration programmes for the returnees, including Tabang Mindanaw (Help Mindanao), and Operation: Pagbabalik (Operation: Home- coming). Following reports of overcrowding in detention centres, lack of food and water during the deportation process, and deportees getting sick or dying, the Philippine government filed a formal protest with Malaysia. The latter acceded to the Philippine government’s request to send a delegation to investigate the conditions in Sabah’s detention centres. A year later, reports on crackdowns, arrests, detentions and deportations continued, but they were no longer attention-grabbing. Such come-and-go attention given to the issue of unauthorized migration seems to be the norm. Unauthorized migration is tolerated, kept under wraps or ignored for the most part, until some crisis – whether real or imagined – emerges and unauthorized migrants are targeted. As sources of information on unautho- rized migration, highly publicized deportations highlight unusual con- ditions and, as such, the information that the media reports may not reflect the day-to-day experiences of migrants. Focusing on the Filipinos in Sabah, I examine the experiences of unautho- rized migrants under relatively ordinary circumstances. How do unautho- rized migrants live and work in the country of destination outside the glare of publicity? In particular, how does their unauthorized status affect their health and access to health care at different stages of migration; that is, from the time of their exit from the Philippines to their entry and stay in Sabah, and to their return to the Philippines? Data from three research projects carried out by the Scalabrini Migration Center provide some insights into the health conditions, health hazards and access to health care of unauthorized Filipino migrants in Sabah. The data sources include, first, an exploratory study which mapped the Western Min- danao-Sabah migration system (the ‘1997 study’).5 This study was part of a larger study on migration from the Philippines to Malaysia and involved fieldwork in Zamboanga City, the staging point of legal migration from Mindanao to Sabah, and Sitangkay (Tawi-Tawi), one of the staging points of undocumented migration to Sabah. Interviews were conducted with traders and visitors based in the Western Mindanao area, deportees (halaws) and returnees (that is, those who returned voluntarily to the Philippines). 118 Maruja M.B. Asis A second data source for this research is a study of HIV vulnerability in the Western Mindanao-Sabah migration system (the ‘2000a study’). This study examined the factors contributing to HIV vulnerability, as well as resilience. Fieldwork was carried out in Zamboanga City, Bongao (Tawi- Tawi), a key exit/entry point, and Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan (Sabah, Malaysia). In addition to interviews with former migrants to Sabah, inter- views were also conducted with Filipinos based in Sabah – legal long-term settlers, refugees and professionals, and unauthorized domestic workers, musicians and professionals. Observations and informal interviews were also conducted with Filipinos who were working in hotels, restaurants, karaoke bars and markets. During fieldwork in Sabah, migration-related articles published in English newspapers were monitored. The final data source for this research is a study of unauthorized migra- tion from the Philippines (the ‘2000b study’). This was part of a four- country study on unauthorized migration in Southeast Asia (the three other participating countries were Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand). Data collec- tion in the Philippines was conducted in the second half of 2000 (Battistella and Asis 2003b). The study purposely did not include the Mindanao-Sabah component because of its unique character (as detailed in the 1997 study). However, during fieldwork in Capiz, a province in the Visayas which was one of the research sites, the researchers discovered a group of migrants who had been to Sabah. These migrants were interviewed because their migration to Sabah was outside traditional cross-border flows involving the people of Western Mindanao. Since these studies were not designed specifically to examine the relation- ship between migration and health (except for the 2000 study on migration and HIV/AIDS concerns), the collection of data was not focused on this question. Thus, the data generated from these studies are largely qualitative, which limits the analysis to an exploratory one. The first part of this chapter frames the different health outcomes implied by legal versus unauthorized migrations. Specifically, the discussion explores how the legal framework of migration provides some basic guarantees in promoting the health and well- being of migrants. This is followed by an overview of the historical and contemporary contexts of the Western Mindanao-Sabah migration system. In the third section I focus on the working and living conditions of unau- thorized Filipino migrants in Sabah, and on how their legal status may or may not affect their health-related conditions. Migration, health and legal status: some considerations The legal status of migrants is a factor that can mediate the relationship between migration and health. In legal migration, migrants are subject to health screening and surveillance. Although legal migration imposes requirements and exacts costs on migrants, it also provides them with some basic guarantees. In contrast, the lack of regulation in unauthorized migra- The Filipinos in Sabah 119 tion predisposes migrants to conditions that do not promote safety, good health and access to support in the case of health problems. Under legal labour migration, prospective overseas Filipino workers have to go through three key checks: pre-deployment health checks, travel checks, and health checks and monitoring in the country of destination, each of which is dealt with below. The common perception of migrants as harbingers of disease and contam- ination departs from the notion of migration as a selective process. Migrants are supposedly healthy; otherwise they are screened out (hence, the ‘healthy migrant effect’). Legal migration requires that prospective migrants pass a medical examination as a requirement for admission to the country of desti- nation. Particularly for migrant workers, the medical examination deter- mines whether they are fit for employment. In the Philippines, for example, applicants
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