Refugees of the Philippines

Displaced Filipinos

Gaya Island featuring the large settlement of Kampung Pondo, one example of the legacy of Filipino refugees in Sabah who fleeing the Moro conflict in their home country.
Total population
~80,000
Regions with significant populations
Malaysia	80,000 (UN estimate)
Indonesia	544 (2014)

Filipino refugees are persons originating from the country of the Philippines. Following the Moro conflict and subsequent major military operation in the islands of Mindanao during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1970s, thousands of Filipinos mainly from the Moro ancestry have seek refuge in neighbouring countries of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, with majority of them mostly heading to the state of Sabah in Malaysia.

Despite the uncertain conflict that happened in the southern Philippines, many of the Filipinos decision to flee are also driven by economic factors and hope for a better lives with many are reluctant to return to their homeland that continues to be torn by violence and kidnappings.

Since the 1970s, thousands of Filipino refugees have began to infiltrating the state of Sabah, forcing the need for maintenance of the refugees. As Malaysia are not the signatory of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, the country have maintained that any newly arrival aliens are illegal immigrants rather than refugees. Although unlike the economically motivated illegal immigrants, the Filipino refugees have long been granted special permission to stay despite limited access to the state employment, social services and public amenities.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) establish its office in the state in 1977 with around $2.7 million have been allocated for the maintenance of the refugees children education, with most of it been allocated to the Sandakan area. Despite this however, the Philippines side constantly accused the Malaysian side especially the Sabah authorities for victimising the refugees with the dismissal of their workers by Sabah businessmen.

The total of Filipino refugees was only 20,367 in the first quarter of 1970. By 1978, it increased to over 92,000 with a non official estimate put the total already reach 140,000. The refugees rose to over 350,000 in 1989. As there is still no definite sign the conflict will permanently stopped, the influx of Filipino refugees continued even after the peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1976.