Malaysian police accused of molesting Filipina girl, 13

Malaysian police deporting illegal immigrants sexually abused a 13-year-old Filipina girl in detention, Philippine officials said yesterday in a sharp protest to Malaysia.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo expressed her "personal outrage" in a letter to the Malaysian Prime Minister, the second official protest she has made about alleged mistreatment of Filipinos in Malaysia's crackdown on illegal workers.

The campaign has led to some 300,000 migrants leaving Malaysia in recent months and has led to street protests in Indonesia and the Philippines, home to most of the workers.

The Philippine Foreign Minister, Blas Ople, said hospital records and reports showed that a 13-year-old girl had been sexually abused by Malaysian police while awaiting deportation. The Social Welfare Minister, Corazon Soliman, said social workers helping arriving deportees in the southern Philippines noticed the girl acting strangely. She told them police molested her while in detention in Kota Kinabalu.

"I express my personal outrage and that of the Filipino people," Mr Ople quoted Ms Arroyo as saying in her letter to the Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamed.

The Philippines "urgently requests" Malaysia to investigate and prosecute those responsible, Mr Ople said.

The protest came as a Filipino government team completed inspection of three detention centres in the Malaysian province of Sabah, where hundreds of illegal Philippine workers are held.

The delegation head, Nur Jaafar, said yesterday that conditions could be improved. "The detention of mothers and children should be in accordance with international law," he said. "We have spoken to the Malaysian authorities here and they have assured us that they will do what is necessary."

Malaysia allowed the inspections after Ms Arroyo's first protest last month. Mr Mahathir also temporarily halted deportations of Filipinos. Thousands of Filipinos were held in detention centres, where they reported overcrowding, poor treatment and a lack of food and water. Three children died while they were being deported.

Malaysia began enforcing tough new laws last month that allow whipping, longer jail terms and big fines for illegal workers, blaming rising crime on illegal immigrants. Tens of thousands of immigrants left on their own, while others were rounded up. (AP)