Moro attacks on Sabah

For the conflict in the Philippines, see Moro conflict.

The Moro attacks on Sabah are a series of attacks by the Moro people from Mindanao on Sabah that began even before the British colonial period. Many civilians have died or suffered during these incidents, causing an increase in Anti-Filipino sentiment among the native peoples of Sabah, especially after major attacks in 1985, 2000 and 2013. The attacks was more intensive with the back-up of the Philippine government during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand Marcos for their irredentism idea to include eastern Sabah as part of the Philippines territory.

Background

Main articles: Sultanate of Sulu and Piracy in the Sulu Sea

Piracy has been a part of the Sultanate of Sulu's culture. During the expedition by the British ship HMS Dido in 1846, Captain Henry Keppel mentioned:

The most desperate and active pirates of the whole Indian Archipelago are the tribes of the Sooloo group of islands lying close to the north shore of Borneo.

— Captain Henry Keppel.

The Sulu islands were known for their "great slave market" with their islanders frequently attacking Borneo Island in search of slaves. In 1910, the neighbouring Celebes Islands was attacked by seven Moro pirates whom had crossed from Mindanao, and two Dutch traders was killed in the incident. Subsequent reports from the British government in North Borneo reported that Joloano Moros terrorised the inhabitants of North Borneo, looting small towns and killing many people. Although the British did a lot to combat piracy, an office of a British company was later raided by twelve Moro pirates in Kalabakan in July 1958. Another raid was done on the nearby township of Semporna on 29 March 1954. During the last year of British rule in North Borneo, both seafarers and coastal settlements suffered a high numbers of attacks from pirates who were believed to be mainly based on Tawi-Tawi. Between 1959 and 1962, 232 pirates attack were recorded by the British authorities in North Borneo, but these were thought to be underestimated as many attacks went unreported. The British North Borneo governor at the time, Roland Turnbull had requested the British to provide him with security forces from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force but no aid was sent until a British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph embellished the report with an anti-Indonesian bias because of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.

Moro migration to Sabah

See also: Jabidah massacre and Illegal immigrants in Malaysia

Regional migration flows within Southeast Asia are not a phenomenon restricted to current times. Social and cultural connections between Sabah, Mindanao and the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan have existed for centuries. The tradition of border crossing from the Philippine Sulu Archipelago to Sabah originated in the late 16th century. The first wave of this migration was linked to the Spanish colonialists who began pushing southwards toward the island provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi from Manila, which was the administration centre of the Spanish during that time. The struggle for dominance between different ethnic groups and the Spanish in Mindanao led to increased immigration of Philippine Moro ethnic groups, mostly the Suluks and Bajaus to Sabah.

File:Pulau Gaya immigrant dwellings.jpg

A huge Moro settlements in the coast of Gaya Island near Kota Kinabalu.

The first arrival of the illegal immigrants in Sabah in the 1960s was said to be associated with the then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his country's claim to the northern Borneo region. It is claimed by media in the Philippines that during the first stage of his plan, Marcos sent around 17 men who mostly recruited from Sulu and Tawi-Tawi had entered Sabah as forest rangers, postmen and police. These agents have blended into the Sabah local communities with a plan to possessing the minds of the larger Filipino communities in eastern Sabah to secede from Malaysia and become part of the Philippines as well to destabilising Sabah. At the same time, a Suluk native, Mustapha Harun became the third Chief Minister of Sabah, he then made a contact with one of the Filipino agent who became his driver. However, most of them did not intend to attack their fellow Muslim brothers in Sabah when they realise their true mission in which they were later execute by Marcos commando soldiers in an event known as Jabidah massacre. During Mustapha's term from 1967 to 1975, he was believed to have encouraged many newly Filipino Tausūgs to migrate to northern Borneo to establish a strong Muslim community which was represented by the United Sabah National Organisation (USNO). Since the massacre especially with the starting of Moro insurgency in the Philippines, Mustapha is believed to have supplied the Moro rebels with financial and weapon supports to fight for their freedom and to take a revenge for their fallen comrades.

Since then, it has caused major economic problems for Sabah as Marcos soldiers launched an operation to eliminate any anti-Marcos factions in the Sulu and Mindanao islands which left much infrastructure there destroyed, forcing an estimated of another 100,000 Moros in Mindanao to flee to Sabah. Most of those who left the Philippines were already involved in criminal activities, mainly smuggling and armed robbery. Today, a huge numbers of Moros still live in many places in Sabah such as Kota Kinabalu, Kinarut, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Semporna, Tawau, Telipok as well on Labuan.

Besides that, the present economic disparity between Mindanao and Sabah became the main reason many of these illegal Moros snuck into Sabah with some of those "extremist" Moros with their own ideology still perceive the eastern part of Sabah as part of the Philippines, and these groups feel entitled to enter Sabah as it is their historical right although the Sultanate of Sulu have defunct since the last recognised Sultan, Jamalul Kiram II whose have no son to inherit his powers.

In 2014, the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) Security Coordinating Intelligence Officer Hassim Justin blamed corruption, illegal issuance of identity cards and local authorities who did not taking any action to combat the squatter colonies for contributing to the significant increase of illegal immigrants in Sabah. It was also reported that community leaders in the east coast such as village chief were involved in the granting of identity cards to new Filipino Moro immigrants as they have a connection with them through similar ethnic roots.

Timeline of attacks

See also: 1985 Lahad Datu ambush, 2000 Sipadan kidnappings, and 2013 Lahad Datu standoff

Attack strategy

The tactics are different, and are based on the motives of individual groups. Generally, the Moros will attack and escape to the Malaysia–Philippines border or any nearby islands when their activities are spotted by the security forces. The Moros will usually steal boat engines, food and other useful things that can be sold. In certain cases, the Moros also attack towns, killing innocent civilians and kidnapping them as shown in the Lahad Datu and Semporna attacks. The Filipino illegal immigrants play an important role in helping them by providing information on their next target. Due to the increase security patrol by the Malaysian Armed Forces, the militants group such as the Abu Sayyaf has change their tactics by attacking and abducting foreign vessel crews.

20th century

Australian soldiers being ferried in a small craft, from troop transport HMAS Sydney on its arrival in North Borneo (Sabah) to counter Indonesian confrontation and possible attacks by Filipino pirates as part of their defence aid program to Malaysia in 1964.

In 1962, seven Filipino Moros armed with machetes attacked the town of Kunak and robbed the businessmen there. The seven Filipino Moros attacked again in 1963, this time attacking the town of Semporna and killing a number of residents. In October 1979, a passenger boat on the way to Semporna from Lahad Datu with 48 passengers was attacked and forced to dock at Adal Island. Three passengers were shot dead, one woman was raped and the others was taken to the Philippines but were quickly rescued by the Philippine security forces. In 1980, a group of 6–8 Moros attacked an island near Semporna with M16 rifles, killing villagers while they were asleep. At the end, seven villagers were killed while 11 others were injured. In 1982, a groups of Moros ambushed a village in Timba-Timba Island, and started to shoot, rob and kill villagers. The incident in 1985, which is considered to be the most terrifying attack out of all of them, was where 21 people were killed and another 11 wounded. Five of the intruders were killed by the Malaysian maritime police while the others managed to escaped. At the end of the tragedy, one of the victim said;

I cannot help wondering about our government, which can’t seem to defend us against these marauders.

In 1987, two Japanese managers was killed while others were wounded after twelve gunmen attack a factory in the Boheydulang Island, forcing the company to close and move their factory to Indonesia. In 1996, two separate armed groups from Mindanao attack the town of Semporna, the first group attack a police station by throwing a fish bomb while the second group managed to steal jewellery worth around MYR100,000 at a gold shop. During the shoot-out, two of the group members were captured by the police with 200 bullets recovered from them. However, the rest managed to escape. In March 1996, another attacks by 10–20 Moros happens in the town of Semporna when three separate armed groups attacked different places at the same time. The first group attacked a police headquarters while the second group attacked a police station. It is acknowledged the motive of the first and second group was to delay time and let the third group succeed in robbing a gold shop. No arrest was made and all the intruders managed to escaped with MYR 200,000. Again in July 1996, four armed men attack a gold shop in Tawau and managed to steal jewellery worth around MYR 150,000. However, one of the gunmen later made a mistake when he retreated to a refugee village in Tawau where he was shot dead by the police. After an hour of investigation, another 5 gunmen from other groups were killed by the police.

21st century

In 2000, the Abu Sayyaf group kidnapped a large number of hostages. 10 of the hostages were from Europe and the Middle East while 11 were Malaysian resort workers. All hostages were later rescued by the Philippine security forces in Jolo, Sulu. In 2003, six foreigners were kidnapped by 10 Moro pirates. In 2004, two Sarawakians and an Indonesian were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group. In 2005, five Filipinos abducted three Indonesian crew from a Sandakan-based trading company near Mataking Island off Semporna. In 2010, a crew of fishermen were captured by Filipino gunmen when their boat strayed into Philippine waters near Boan Island. All crews was later released without any ransom being paid. Also in the same year, a seaweed manager and supervisor were kidnapped by four armed Filipinos on Sebangkat Island. Both victims was freed 11 months later. In 2011, ten armed Filipinos kidnapped a Malaysian businessmen. On 11 February 2013, a group of approximately 100–200 individuals, some of them armed, arrived by boat in Lahad Datu, Sabah from Simunul, Tawi-Tawi, in Mindanao. They were sent by Jamalul Kiram III, one of the claimants to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu. Their objective was to assert their unresolved territorial claim to North Borneo. During the standoff, 68 people were killed including 6 civilians and 10 Malaysian forces. In November 2013, suspected Abu Sayyaf militants killed a Taiwanese national at Pom Pom Island and released his wife a month later in southern Philippines.

In January 2014, an attempted intrusion by foreign elements on Sabah was blocked by the Malaysian security forces. On 2 April 2014, a Chinese tourist and a Filipino national were abducted off Singamata Adventures Reef and Resort, Semporna. Two months later, they were rescued by Malaysian and Philippine security forces. On 6 May 2014, another abduction involving a Chinese national occurred in Silam, near the Lahad Datu area in Sabah. He was later freed on 10 July. On 16 June, a fish breeder and a Filipino worker were kidnapped off Kunak. The fish farm manager was freed on 10 December with the help of two Filipino negotiators, one of them being the leader of the Moro National Liberation Front. On 12 July, a policeman was shot dead and another marine policeman was abducted at Mabul Water Bungalows Resort, Mabul island. The policeman was later freed on 7 March 2015, after 9 months in captivity. In October 2014, two Vietnamese fishermen who were working for a Malaysian employer, were shot by Filipino pirates. All of them were later rescued by the Malaysian security forces and sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu.

On 15 May 2015, four armed men from the Abu Sayyaf-based group in Mindanao abducted two people in a resort in Sandakan and brought them to Parang, Sulu. One of them been released on 9 November, after six months in captivity, while another one was beheaded due to ransom demands was not met.

Threats

Security

Main articles: Eastern Sabah Security Command and Eastern Sabah Security Zone

The Malaysian Maritime Police on duty patrolling the waters around Semporna especially on the Bajau Laut villages to prevent any further intrusion.

During the British colonial era, the British suffered a high number of attacks, leading to the deployment of Henry Keppel and James Brooke in 1846 to search for pirate nests in North Borneo. After a long journey of battling with the pirates, the last pirate's nest in Tunku, Lahad Datu was destroyed by the British.

The latest intrusion in 2013 caused the Malaysian government to establish the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM), Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE) and deploy more assets to Sabah. To combat Moro pirates and Abu Sayyaf attacks, the Malaysian government has also decided to impose a curfew on eastern Sabah waters and has started to use radar to detect any suspicious activities on every tiny settlement along the east coast. There is a call from a former Chief Minister of Sabah, Harris Salleh to the federal government to reconsider the proposal to move the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base from Butterworth, Penang to Labuan. He suggested that the air force base should be relocated to Tawau in the interest of security in the eastern Sabah. The Minister of Transport, Liow Tiong Lai has also proposed to extend the area of ESSCOM and ESSZONE to cover the whole Sabah as also been proposed by Yong Teck Lee. On 23 January 2015, the Royal Brunei Air Force gives neighbouring Malaysia four S-70A Black Hawks as a gift. The Malaysian said that it will use it in addition of available assets to defend Sabah from a further possible attacks by the Moros. On 28 February, the United States supplied the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) with 12 boats following a number of agreements signed between the two countries in 2014 during the Barack Obama visit.

The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) Security Coordinating Intelligence Officer Hassim Justin also warned Malaysian employers to be cautious on hiring Filipinos (mainly those who come from the Sulu Archipelago and Mindanao) as they could not be trusted as many of them are believed to be spies of kidnapping groups as been proved by police investigation and international media reports. Beside that, he have suggested that if any Filipino races (who have been naturalised as Malaysian citizens through the illegal Project IC) caught for continuously committing crimes in the states should be revoked for their citizenship with their whole family been deported back to the Philippines. Hashim also suggested that any Filipino names in troubled villages with high crime rates in eastern Sabah should be removed and replaced with Sabahan names. The Royal Malaysia Police and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister has made a proposal to ban barter trade in the east coast as it was seen only benefited to one side and threatening the security of the state. This was enforced then although facing numerous opposition from the Malaysian opposition parties and Filipino resident on the nearest Philippine islands due to the raise of the cost in their region after the ban, while receiving positive welcomes by Sabahans residents and politicians. Beside that, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia has agreed to jointly patrol their sea to thwart any threats from the Filipino militants.

Society

Main articles: Illegal immigrants in Malaysia and Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah

The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, has suggested the government of Sabah to demolish all the water villages in eastern Sabah and resettle only the local people there as the era of the water villages has passed and the lifestyle of the villagers there who live in the sea is not appropriate for the modern way of life in Malaysia as the nation aims for Vision 2020. A Sabah MP, Rosnah Shirlin has called for the closure of the Filipino refugee camp in Kinarut, saying it is a threat to security in Papar. She says:

The refugee camp has creating a lot of problems for the residents of the district. The camp has become a drugs den and the source of many other criminal activities. Over the years, many robberies had taken place in nearby villages and the culprits are mostly from the camp. Supposedly, the improved situation in the Philippines today has brought into question whether these Filipinos could still be regarded as refugees. The camp was set up on a 40-acre plot of land near Kampung Laut in the early 1980s by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). But the UNHCR had long ago stopped providing funds to the camp and as a result, many of these foreigners had been working outside the camp. The refugees had dared to expanded the camp area, encroaching on nearby village land and today, the camp has become the biggest syabu distribution den in Papar.

— Rosnah Shirlin, Sabah Papar's MP.

United Sabah People's Party (PBRS) leader, Joseph Kurup shares a similar view on this, adding that the Moro refugees and immigrants should take the opportunity to return and develop their homeland in Mindanao, Philippines as the peace had been restored there. Kurup also reminded that Sabahan people are not against to any migration, but stressing that any migration should be accordance to law by not entering illegally;

We (the Sabahan peoples) are not against migration to Sabah as long as it is in accordance with the law.

— Joseph Kurup, United Sabah People's Party (PBRS) leader.

Another Sabah former Chief Minister, Yong Teck Lee has suggested to suspend the ferry service in Sandakan to counter the high level of Moro people migration from the Mindanao which now has become a major issue for Sabah when they overstay in the state and becoming an illegal immigrant. In October 2014, the Minister of Home Affairs, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that all stateless children in Sabah will be given a birth certificates for schooling purposes. The proposal was soon opposed by a number of Sabahan politicians both from the opposition and government allied parties such as Joseph Pairin Kitingan, Darell Leiking and Yong Teck Lee, citing the act would bring a big problem to Sabah in the future, while another Sabah-based opposition party leader, Jeffrey Kitingan, has called for a different birth certificate to be issued to the foreigners. Sabah State Legislative Assembly member for Kamunting in Sandakan, Charles O Pang, believes the education system will be burdened if stateless children are given birth certificates. He quote;

According to Sabah survey of statelessness, it is estimated that around 36,000 stateless children of Indonesian origin lived in the state and most employees understand they are working on palm oil plantations. While stateless children from the Philippines are estimated much higher. He did not deny that most people who come to Sabah to seek a better life but the problems posed by the illegal human wave will only lead to trouble. Obviously, this scenario creates an unfair situation for Malaysians in the sense that we are taxpayers, and who should pay the high costs of the non-citizen children not only in their schools, but also in the terms of maintenance of their lives?

— Charles O Pang, Sabah State Legislative Assembly Members for Kamunting in Sandakan.

Also it was known the UNHCHR has ever trying before to integrate the Filipino refugees with local communities in 1986 if they can't repatriate them back to the Philippines but this was opposed heavily by the locals and Sabah state government as it could bring a big social problem to the state. Large amounts of money have been spent to maintain the lives of the Filipino illegal immigrants and the amount remains unpaid until today despite attempts to recover the monies. Sabah Health Department said infectious diseases among the illegal immigrants was on the rise resulting in more expenditures, as well as provisions for more funds to accommodate the logistics such as medical officers and others. Sabah Kiulu Assemblyman, Joniston Bangkuai point out a similar view on the stateless issue. He said:

It used to be that they (the illegal Filipinos) came here to look for livelihood. They came to look for work, but now they are multiplying, with some of their women giving birth to as many as 10 children, but they are not taken care of.

— Joniston Bangkuai, Sabah Kiulu's Assemblyman.

The Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) director, Ismail Ahmad has clarified that the issuing of the birth certificates does not make the stateless children Malaysians or Sabahan citizens as the certificates will be only used for record and monitoring purpose to show that the children are born in Sabah. Beside that, a DNA test is now among the methods being used to ensure only genuine citizens are issued the Malaysian birth certificate when they apply for late birth registrations. After several discussions, the Cabinet of Malaysia later decided to give only special birth documents instead of birth certificates as been announced by the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak.

The United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) will present their proposed solutions on the problems after they have obtained the full Royal Commission Inquiry report, one of them being the re-calling and re-issuing of all the identification cards of the people of Sabah. Other former politicians have asked the federal government to investigate the action of some individuals who claim to be of royal blood of the Sulu Sultanate and have been conferring many Datukship title to local Sabahans and to those from Peninsular Malaysia until today.

Most Sabah United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) leaders have lauded the drastic measures announced by the Sabah current Chief Minister Musa Aman to address the problem posed by illegal immigrants. However, the former UPKO federal parliamentarian, Wilfred Bumburing reminded that the members of Barisan Nasional (BN) should not take credit for the setting up of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) as it was only established after a much pressure from the Sabahan peoples. The United Sabah Party (PBS) has said the Philippine government is to be blamed for the misery of its nationals in Sabah as a response to remarks made by Philippines Ambassador to Malaysia, J. Eduardo Malaya who stressed that Filipino migrants children in Malaysia deserved formal education. While he support the suggestion, the party Secretary-General Johnny Mositun reminded:

The number of Filipinos in Sabah, legal or illegal, is huge but what has Manila done, or is doing, to see to their education? It was Manila's refusal to establish a Consular Office in Sabah that was making life difficult for the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in the state and Malaysia had to bear the cost. Nearly half of the patients using Sabah hospitals are mostly Filipinos. For the better part of four decades, the Filipinos in Sabah – refugees, migrant workers and illegal immigrants – have all been denied any substantial services or assistance from the Philippine government. They survive only because the Malaysian Government adheres strictly to international norms and standards of law and human rights. We provide them with jobs, they avail themselves of all our civic amenities, and now it is implied that we should educate their children, too. What next?

— Johnny Mositun, United Sabah Party (PBS) Secretary General.

Other Sabahan leaders such as Darell Leiking agreed and reminded the Philippine government to emulate the Indonesian government's plan by setting up a consulate in Sabah to care for their nationals and set up schools for their children. On a statement, he said:

The Philippine government should accept the fact that Sabah was a sovereign nation and that it needed to set up a consulate in the state for the good of its people. Filipino migrants must be registered to allow them to have better opportunities in Sabah, to have a life and proper jobs as it was unfair to impose Filipino problems unto Sabah or the Malaysian government simply because the Philippine government refused to take responsibility for its own people.

— Darell Leiking, member of the opposition (PKR).

The Sabah state government has since working to end the Filipino squatter problems that have become the main cause for rampant crimes, terrorism and drug trafficking in the state by relocating them to a proper place to ease proper management.