PH appeals to 400,000 undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia to come home
THE Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday appealed to some 400,000 undocumented Filipinos in Malayasia to avail of its voluntary deportation program, which would end this August.
Philippine Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Charles Jose, in a statement, also assured Filipinos who have not availed of legal immigration status assistance from the embassy on their return home through the voluntary deportation program offered by the Malaysian government.
“We appeal to our undocumented kababayan in Malaysia to take this opportunity to be able to return to their loved ones in the Philippines without jail time or fines,” Jose said in statement.
The Ambassador said the repatriation program allows undocumented migrants to leave Malaysia without having to serve jail time or settle compounded penalties.
Those who want to avail of the program only need to pay a fixed discounted penalty of 300 Malaysian ringgit regardless of length of overstay and a 100 ringgit exit fee.
The embassy, according to Jose, has assisted about 50,000 Filipinos from January 2016 to June 2018, by way of issuance of travel documents and the payment of exit fees and one-way airfare to the Philippines.
He said the repatriation program coincided with the end of the Malaysian government’s rehiring program on June 30 that allowed qualified undocumented foreign workers to apply for valid working permits and regularize their status under Malaysian law.
Jose said only 8,000 Filipinos—or two percent of the estimated number of undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia—applied for the rehiring program.
Filipinos who wish to avail of the program but have no valid passports are advised to proceed to the Embassy for interview and processing of their travel documents. JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA
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