TAWAU, June 5 ― A total of 82 illegal immigrants from Indonesia, including five women, were deported to their homeland via the Tawau Port to Nunuka, in the republic today.

The National Security Council (NSC) director in Sabah, Sharifah Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof, in a statement today, said the action is proof of Malaysia’s commitment to ensure the illegal immigrants could return home and enjoy their rights to a normal life in their own country.

She said it is the Malaysian government’s hope for neighbouring countries, including the Phillipines,  to cooperate by agreeing to receive back their nationals who are deported from the country.

She said the deportation of the illegal immigrants was conducted with the cooperation of the Immigration Department, Health Department, the police and the relevant agencies.

Meanwhile, she said a total of 3,753 illegal immigrants had been deported this year from Sabah, including to China, Pakistan and Vietnam.

The number of illegal immigrants deported to their respective country of origin from Sabah since 1990 was 594,920 people, she added. ― Bernama