| Detained Pinoys in
Sabah reach 96 as more flee Sulu MANILA, (ABS-CBN) - Malaysia has detained 96 Filipinos who slipped
into Sabah state after more evacuees fled nearby Sulu island where a military assault was
launched last week, a news wire report said.
News wire Agence France Presse (AFP) said the entry of the
Filipinos came despite stepped-up security along the Malaysian border to prevent further
kidnapping raids by the dreaded Abu Sayyaf group.
Philippine ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Jose Brillantes was
quoted saying the Filipinos arrived in two batches by boat last week and have been
detained in Sandakan.
Malaysian authorities are checking whether the new arrivals
had fled a Philippine military operation to rescue 17 hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf in
Sulu, or are merely illegal immigrants, Brillantes said.
"My guess is that these are the usual people who are entering Sabah," the envoy
said.
"These are not large numbers and are just part of the normal water traffic. It's just
that they were apprehended in the course of Malaysia's stricter surveillance in the
area."
Malaysian armed forces chief Mohamad Zahidi Zainuddin said Kuala Lumpur was studying the
prospect of converting one of the least inhabited islands off Sabah into a refugee camp to
house fleeing Filipinos, the New Straits Times reported on Saturday
Malaysia's prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, Friday said Filipinos entering Malaysia to
escape the military assault on Abu Sayyaf rebels would be treated as war refugees.
Brillantes said that if the 96 detainees are verified to have this status, they would be
placed on an isolated island and given aid and humanitarian treatment until the Jolo
campaign is over.
But if they are merely economic migrants, they would be
detained and, "after normal processing," would be deported back to the
Philippines.
Brillantes said the Malaysian navy has informed the Philippine
embassy that "they would follow the rules of engagement" in dealing with armed
intruders.
"That means, there will be warning shots and if they
refuse to heed, and after establishing that they are Abu Sayyaf -- for example if they
arrive with arms -- they will shoot them."
Kuala Lumpur has been embarrassed by the lax security at
Pandanan island off Sabah, where Abu Sayyaf rebels from the southern Philippines managed
to snatch three Malaysians on September 10.
Less than five months earlier, the Abu Sayyaf abducted nine
Malaysians and 12 foreigners from a dive resort on the nearby island of Sipadan.
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