More than 800 illegals nabbed in Sabah over 18 months during Ops Benteng, Parliament told

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 813 illegal immigrants believed to be from the Philippines were detained during Ops Benteng in Sabah from May 1 last year to Oct 29 this year, says Deputy Home Minister II Datuk Jonathan Yasin.

He said the ministry, via the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), has taken a comprehensive approach to address the issue of illegal immigrants in the state's east coast waters by maintaining optimum preparedness of its security assets.

He added that this would be done by strengthening integrated security operations through Ops Benteng and the implementation of Operasi Cegah Pati at five sectors namely Kudat, Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Semporna and Tawau.

"This covers almost all the east coast waters of Sabah (and uses) assets from various security and defence agencies coordinated under Esscom," he told Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) during Question Time in Parliament on Monday (Nov 1).

Bung had asked the ministry to reveal its measures to curb intrusion by illegal immigrants from the Philippines.

According to Jonathan, more than 304 assets from various security agencies have been deployed in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone).

Among them are 97 security and defence assets currently operating, while 207 assets are on standby for deployment in Esszone should the need arise.

Asked about the latest information on curfew in the area, Jonathan said he will deal with it in a parliamentary written reply as it involved an update in policy from the ministry.