A Philippine senator said on Tuesday that Malaysia's imminent expulsion of tens of thousands of Philippine illegal workers could create a humanitarian crisis like the tsunami disaster in Aceh for the country's Mindanao region.

Senator Ralph Recto said the exodus of between 350,000 and 500,000 Filipinos out of the Malaysian state of Sabah will "seriously strain" the already delicate health and social services in several Mindanao cities and provinces.

Recto said that compared with the July-August 2002 expulsion of Philippine illegal workers by Malaysia, this time the expellees' number would be at least ten times higher.

"How many were deported during that time? Fewer than 10,000. Yet we had a hard time housing and feeding them. If this incoming wave of refugees is ten times bigger than the one in 2002, or 100,000 persons, then we are facing a crisis," he said.

He said if the number of expellees reaches 400,000, the Philippines would be facing a Banda Aceh-type humanitarian crisis.

Recto said the Philippine government, already faced with fiscal crisis, may not have the capacity to re-settle so many people from Malaysia.

Malaysia said on Tuesday it would grant another four weeks of amnesty to tens of thousands of undocumented Philippine workers in Sabah bordering Mindanao.

An estimated 100,000 undocumented Philippine workers are in Sabah, while 150,000 others are in western Malaysia. Taking into account of their families, the number of undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia could be much higher.

Source: Xinhua