OFW Journals (OFW Stories on the News) and Some OFW Employment, Career & Business Tips

Detained Filipina in Malaysia (Vanie B.)

GM, not her real name is a young woman from the province of Mindanao, she's a Muslim and I like her because she's kind, she's masipag, respectful and she really wants to help her family back home by becoming an OFW.

She came to this country because of illegal agents from their town, they came here through vessels from port somewhere in Zamboanga then to Sandakan Malaysia, then from there they can move to Muara, Brunei by ferry boat.

So, we met her when she was already here. She's looking for a job, to become a maid. She's only 18 years old. She wants us to hire her but during that time, we don't have enough to pay for a maid so we can't take her. And one more reason is, we're a Christian family, a Muslim maid are not allowed to work in Christian household but Christian maid are allowed to work in Muslim household.

So, she went t look for some other employers but she's not successful, she found one or two employers but they're all abusing her. Until her time as a Tourist ran out. She only got 14 days to stay here cause she got a visit visa only...so what she's doing, along with her agent, she is sent back to Malaysia to exit then she will come back here so that her passport will be stamped for 3 days again, then go out again then go back in....

Until the last time we met her, her passport was stamped as final, meaning to say, she can't go back here anymore, so if she exit to Malaysia, she should go back straight to Philippines...but the problem is she got no any money to purchase ticket for the ferry...

At that time, we're really in difficult situation because I don't have enough cash. My husband wasn't with me at that time because he's also in KK Malaysia too...but I gave GM some money for her trip back to KK, Malaysia only.

She said that she got a friend where she could stay temporarily somewhere in KK. She gave me her number, then I told her, okay, If my husband call, I'll tell him about you so that he can help you, atleast he could give you some cash in going back to Philippines. She said that she's allowed to stay in Malaysia for 30 days , so she can work some part time jobs to save money in going back to the town.

So, the next day, she left....and then my husband call me but he never met GM there.Until we received a call after few days my husband is already here. She said that she wanted to go back here, she wants to try if she can get in here again because she really got no money. She wanted to work with us so that she could get some cash...She said that she can still be able to get in even it is already final...

And yes, because we wanted to help her, I told her that my husband would fetch her in Labuan. So my husband went there to assist her, but on that day, she wasn't allowed to cross the border. It is not because she's not allowed to go back here but the reason is she got no stamped on her passport that she enters Malaysia few days ago!

My husband is just looking at her on the other side but he couldn't do something. GM was escorted inside the immigration office and we learned that she was detained because she's accused of being an illegal migrant...it is because there's no stamped on her passport that she enters Malaysia...

I think what happened was, because she's really depressed because of her problems, it is possible that she forgot to give her passport to the officer when she enters Malaysia few days ago. She's maybe thinking so deep on how t go back to Philippines....

Her friend in Malaysia, helped her and talked to the officers there but they said that she can still solve the problem actualy if she shows up immediately maybe one or two days after the incident but then, she failed to report for more that a week already, so it is really a crime now and she is now an illegal alien.

They said that she can still be released but they need to bail her out. So another problem existed, she got no any money. She can't contact her family back home. She don't want them to know. So her friend caled us, asking for some cash...but the problem is, we don't have enough because we recently made some expenses too so we told them to wait.

Until one day, we got some enough money. Her friend took it from us...I don't know if she really helped GM but we never had any more communication after we gave the money. It is enough to bail her out and to buy her ticket in gong back to Philippines.

I hope that she's fine now. I hope that she went out of the jail and went back to Philippines already...I hope she is...We were really sad when we heard that she was detained, I even cried. My daughter and sister was lonely too. They pity GM for what had happened. Even my husband was sad but he couldn't do anything during that time. I hope that she's now safe and happy with her family back home.