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Malaysia to Treat Filipinos as War Refugees: Mahathir
Malaysia will treat Filipinos fleeing to the country to escape attacks by Philippine military forces in the southern part of that country as war refugees, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday.
"If they come, we will treat them like we treated the Vietnamese (refugees) previously," Mahathir told reporters after officiating the International Media Convention on the Role of the Media in Non-Aligned Countries in Shah Alam near here.
He said "We can no longer accept them as illegal immigrants but as war refugees to be put in a special place."
They would not be allowed to leave the place except if they were willing to return home, Mahathir said.
The Malaysian Armed Forces and the Royal Malaysia Police have stationed their personnel on several islands off Sabah, East Malaysia, to ensure that the rebels did not enter Malaysian waters to seek refuge.
The Philippine military launched the attacks on the rebel strongholds in the southern Philippines last Saturday in an effort to free hostages including three Malaysians reportedly held by gunmen in Jolo in the southern Philippines.
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