Manila steps up controls of Indonesian immigrants in Mindanao

The crucial move follows reports that 10 Jamaah Islamiyah suicide bombers have infiltrated the country from the south.

Manila (AsiaNews/JP) – Manila has stepped up a campaign to register thousands of undocumented Indonesians in the south of the country. The decision follows news that some suicide bombers from the Islamic terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), are hiding in the Philippines. The head of the Immigration bureau, Alpio Fernandez, said the registration operation will help the government fight terrorism in the country.

Fernandez said: "It will make it easier for us to monitor the entry and stay of Indonesians in the south. Those who do not register will be considered illegal aliens and will be arrested."

Earlier in the month, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales warned that up to 10 operatives of the Indonesia-based JI terror network – linked to Al-Qaeda – entered the country through the Muslim majority region of Mindanao in the south. It is suspected that the terrorists want to buy explosives to carry out an attack in the Philippines, most likely in Manila. Indonesian secret service officials relayed this information in June.

Immigration statistics reveal that 2,641 Indonesians registered since the launch of the campaign in the first months of 2005. Fernandez added that there were at least 7,000 illegal immigrants in Mindanao, some of who have been on the island for 30 or 40 years.

Government intelligence agents said about 40 JI militants were training in Mindanao under the protection of Abu Sayyaf rebels – linked to Al-Qaeda – and members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The Philippines has been hit by deadly terror attacks in the past two years: on 27 February 2004, a bomb attack on a passenger ferry boat Superferry killed more than 100 people; on 14 February this year a triple attack caused 12 fatalities and more than 130 wounded in Manila and in the south of the country in General Santos and Davao.

• philippines
• islam
• terrorism
• muslims
• attacks
• immigration
• Jamaah
• Islamiyah
• Abu
• Sayyaf