Children are detained with undocumented Pinoys in Sabah, Malaysia

The children of undocumented Filipino immigrants in Malaysia were not spared from the government's crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Katrina Son reported on 24 Oras on Wednesday that a video taken at a detention facility in Kimanis, Sabah in the last week of September.

The videographer was visiting compatriots who were detained for staying in Malaysia without proper documents.

However, he was surprised to see that children were also detained at the facility, including the the wife and child of the videographer's friend.

They were detained for six months before they were deported to the Philippines. The father, however, is still in Sabah.

GMA News showed the video to DFA officials, who said they are still gathering information on the situation of children in detention.

It can be recalled that the Malaysian government's crackdown on illegal immigrants started last August.

According to data from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), most of the illegal migrants in Malaysia stay in Sabah, which is very near Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

DFA data showed that as of June 2017, out of 470,000 Filipinos in Malaysia about one half are illegal migrants. — Margaret Claire Layug/BAP, GMA News