MANILA: The number of Filipinos who have fled Sabah since fighting broke out early this month between Malaysian security forces and followers of the sultanate of Sulu has reached 4,771, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported.
As of March 28, the NDRRMC said a total of 944 families have left Sabah for the Basulta (Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi) region and are being assisted by government.
Of the number, 2,861 persons are adults and 1,860 are children.
The number of Filipinos fleeing Sabah is expected to continue increasing as the crisis remains unresolved and amid a crackdown by Malaysian authorities on both undocumented aliens and those suspected of supporting the sultanate.
Six schools in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, each able to accommodate up to 60 families, have been readied in anticipation of the continued influx of evacuees.
To date, P10.39 million worth of food and non-food items have already been provided to the returning Filipinos with an additional P13.403 million provided for other humanitarian operations.
Because of the continued arrival of evacuees, the Department of Social Welfare and Development plans to set up a 24/7 “one-stop-shop processing center” in Taganak, Tawi-Tawi to provide the displaced with psychosocial intervention, legal documents, skills training and livelihood assistance, among others.
The Sulu sultanate, meanwhile, said it would not lift the unilateral ceasefire it earlier declared although Sultant Jamalul Kiram III said this would place his followers in Sabah at a disadvantage.
Malaysia says it has killed more than 60 of the sultanate’s followers since hostilities broke out on March 1.
However, they have yet to get the Sulu crown prince, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, who led more than 200 followers to Sabah in February to press their claim to the territory.
Malaysia claims Agbimuddin has fled Sabah, but this has been denied both by the sultanate and the Philippine government.
-Agencies
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