Moro attacks on Malaysia

The Moro attacks on Malaysia are a series of attacks by the Moros from the Southern Philippines to East Malaysia since the British period. Many civilians have died or suffered during these incidents, causing an increase in Anti-Filipino sentiment among the native peoples of Sabah, especially following major attacks in 1985 and 2013.

Moros culture
It has been part of the culture for the Sultanate of Sulu engaging in pirates activity. During the expedition by the British HMS Dido in 1846, Captain Henry Keppel even mentioning; 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. The Sulu islands known for its "great slave market" with their islanders people frequently attacked Borneo island in search for slave. In 1910, the neighbouring Dutch East Indies in Celebes Islands was attacked by seven Moro pirates who had crossed from the southern Philippines, two Dutch traders was killed during the incident. Subsequent report from the British government in North Borneo reported that Joloano Moros terrorised the inhabitants of North Borneo, looting small towns and killing peoples. Although the British doing a lot to combat the piracy, a British company office later was raided by twelve Moro pirates in Kalabakan on July 1958. Another early serious raid was done on the nearby township of Semporna in 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 mainly based on Tawi-Tawi. Between 1959 and 1962, already 232 pirates attack been recorded by the British authorities in North Borneo, but these were thought to be more as many attacks went unreported. The British North Borneo governor at the time, Roland Turnbull had ever pledged to the British base in the United Kingdom to provide him with a security from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force but no aid been sent until a British media, the Daily Telegraph embellished the report with an anti-Indonesian bias when already close to the confrontation era; British Borneo has for years been subject to attacks from pirates from the Philippines and Indonesia, the media claimed.

Moros migration to Sabah
Regional migration flows within Southeast Asia are not a phenomenon restricted to current times. Social and cultural connections between Sabah, the southern parts of the Philippines and the Indonesian province of Kalimantan have existed for centuries. The tradition of border crossing from the Philippine Sulu Archipelago to Sabah originates 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 is the administration centre of the Spanish during that time. The struggle for dominance between different ethnic groups and the Spanish in the Southern Philippine region led to increased immigration of Philippine Moro ethnic groups mostly the Suluks and Bajaus to Sabah.

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. At the same time, a Suluk from the Southern Philippines, Mustapha Harun became the third Chief Minister of Sabah. During his term from 1967 until 1976, he was believed to have encouraged many Suluks to move to northern Borneo to established a strong Muslim community which was represented by the United Sabah National Organisation (USNO). The sudden high migration to Sabah can be explained by individual intentions of politicians trying to achieve their political and personal aims.

Another factors that led to the high migration is due to the instability of the Philippines in 1977 which has caused major economic problems for Sabah. Philippine army raids against anti-Marcos factions in the Sulu and Mindanao island have left many infrastructures destroyed, forcing an estimated 100,000 Moros in the Southern Philippines to flee to Sabah. While those who have not left the Philippine islands have already involved in criminal activities, mainly on smuggling and armed robbery. Until today, a huge numbers of Moros illegal immigrants had a present in most town of Sabah such as Kota Kinabalu, Kinarut, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Semporna and Tawau.

Beside that, economic disparaties between Southern Phillipines and Sabah became the main reason why many of these illegal Moros sneak into the state. Some of these Moros still preceive the eastern part of Sabah are part or parcel of the Phillipines as these groups feel that they can enter Sabah as it is their historical privilege or rights.

In 2014, the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) Security Coordinating Intelligence Officer Hassim Justin has blamed on the corruption, illegal issuance of identity cards and to the local authorities who did not taking any action to combat the squatter colonies before which now has contributed to the high increase of the illegal immigrant population in Sabah, he mention about the culture of these immigrants; Although these foreigners stayed in Sabah, their loyalty to the Philippines never swayed and brought along crimes like drugs, smuggling and piracy. The Filipinos from this region are also vengeful and ill-tempered, where disputes often result in shooting and end in bloody feuds. "A culture they call Rido".

20th century
In 1962, seven Filipinos Moros armed with machete attacked the town of Kunak and robbed the businessmen there. The seven Filipinos Moros once again attacking in 1963, this time attacked the town of Semporna and killing a numbers of resident. In October 1979, a passenger boat on the way to Semporna from Lahad Datu with 48 passengers was attacked and forced to turned on Adal Island. Three passengers was shot dead, one woman was rape and the others was taken to the Philippines but soon recovered by the Philippine security forces. In 1980, a groups comprising 6–8 Moro peoples attack an island near Semporna with M-16, killing villagers while they asleep. At the end, seven villagers were killed while 11 others were injured. In 1982, a groups of Moro peoples once again ambush a village in Timba-Timba, they started to shoots, robbing and killing villagers. The motive soon was found to be a revenge. While the incident in 1985 considered as one of the most terrifying incident when 21 peoples get killed and another 11 wounded. In retaliation, five of the intruders later was killed by the Malaysian marine police while 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 wounded after twelve gunmens attack a factory in the island of Boheydulang, forcing the company to closed and move their factory to Indonesia. In 1996, two separate armed groups from the Southern Philippines attack the town of Semporna, the first group attack a police station by throwing a fish bomb while the second group managed to steal a jewellery worth around MYR100,000 at a gold shop. During the shoot-out, two of the group members was captured by the police with 200 bullets recovered from them. However, the rest managed to escaped. In March 1996, another attacks by 10–20 Moros happens to the town of Semporna when three separate armed groups attack a different places in the same time. The first group attack a police headquarters while the second group attack a police station. It is acknowledged the first and the second group motive was to delayed time while to let the third group success in robbing a gold shop. No arrest was made and all the intruders managed to escaped with MYR200,000. Again in July 1996, four armed men attack a gold shop in Tawau and managed to steal jewellery worth around MYR150,000. However, one of the gunmen later made a mistake when he retreated to a refugee village in Tawau where he been shot dead by the police. After an hour of investigation, another 5 gunmen from other group was killed by the police.

21st century
In 2000, the Abu Sayyaf group kidnapped a large number of hostages. 10 of the tourists are from Europe and the Middle East while 11 are Malaysian resort workers. All hostages was later rescued by the Philippine security forces in Jolo, Sulu. In 2003, six foreigners kidnapped by 10 Moro pirates. In 2004, two Sarawakians and an Indonesian kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf based group. In 2005, five Filipinos abducted three Indonesian crew of a Sandakan based trading company near Mataking Island off Semporna. In 2010, a crew of fishermen was captured by Filipino gunmen when their boat strayed into the Philippine waters near Boan Island. All crews was later released without any ransom been paid. Also in the same year, a seaweed manager and supervisor kidnapped by four armed Filipino in 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 island, Tawi-Tawi in the southern Philippines. 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 of his followers were killed including 2 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 the southern Philippines.

In January 2014, an attempted of further intrusion by foreign elements on Sabah was already 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 was kidnapped off Kunak. On 12 July, a policeman was shot dead and another marine policeman was abducted at Mabul Water Bungalows Resort, Mabul island. In October 2014, two Vietnamese fishermen who were working for a Malay employer, has been shot by Filipino pirates. All of them later been rescued by the Malaysian security forces and sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Attack tactics
The tactics is different based on their motives for every groups, basically the Moros will attack and escaped to the Philippines area or any nearest islands when their activities were spotted by the security forces. In this modern days, they will usually steal boat engine, foods and other useful things such as television and even an Astro decoder. In some cases, the Moros also attack towns, killing innocent civilians and kidnapping as evidenced on Lahad Datu and Semporna attacks. The Filipinos illegal immigrants playing an important role on helping them to providing any information on their next target.

Geography security
Since the British period, the British has suffered a high number of attacks, this led to the deployment of Henry Keppel and James Brooke in 1846 to search any pirates nest on North Borneo. After a long journey battling with the pirates, the last pirate nest in Tunku, Lahad Datu was destroyed by the British.

The latest intrusion in 2013 makes the Malaysian government establish the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM), Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE) and deployed a large assets to Sabah. Beside unstoppable Moro Pirates and Abu Sayyaf attacks, the Malaysian government has decide to impose a curfew on eastern Sabah waters and started to use a radar to detect any suspicious activities on every tiny settlements along the east coast.

There is a call from the 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 to Labuan. He suggested 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.

Social security
The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad has suggested the government of Sabah to demolished all the water villages in eastern Sabah and resettle only the local peoples 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 quote; 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 even dare to expanded the camp area, encroaching on nearby village land and today, the camp has become the biggest syabu distribution den in Papar.

United Sabah People's Party (PBRS) leader, Joseph Kurup shared a similar view on this, adding the Moro refugees and immigrants should take the opportunity to return and develop their homeland in Mindanao, Philippines as the peace was restored there. 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 Southern Philippines which now has become the major problem to Sabah when they overstaying in the state and becoming an illegal immigrants. 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 numbers 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 brought a big problem to Sabah in the future. While another Sabah based opposition parties leader, Jeffrey Kitingan has called for a different birth certificates issued to the foreigners. Sabah State Legislative Assembly Members for Kamunting in Sandakan, Charles O Pang believes the education system will be burdened if the possibility of 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?

Large amounts had been spent for these Filipino illegal immigrants life maintenance and the amount remains unpaid until today despite attempts to recover the monies. Sabah Health Department said that infectious disease among the illegal immigrants was on the rise resulting to 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.

The Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) director, Ismail Ahmad has clarified that the issuing of the birth certificates does not make the stateless children as a Malaysians or Sabahan citizens as the certificates will be only used for record and monitoring purpose to show that the children is born in Sabah. Beside that, a DNA tests is now among the methods being used to ensure only genuine citizens been issued with the Malaysian birth certificates when they apply for late birth registrations. After several discussions, the Malaysian Cabinet later decided to give only special birth document 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, among the main proposal would be to re-call and re-issue all the identification cards of the people of Sabah. Other former politicians has asked the federal government to investigate the action of some individuals acknowledged that they are the royal blood of the Sulu Sultanate and has conferring many Datukship title to local Sabahans and to those from the peninsula until today, adding the action should not have happened here as the 2013 standoff was happened when a couples from the Philippines had come to the state to meet all the Suluks people here. When they been asked for what the purpose of their visit, they only said that in Sabah, there are about 1.5 million Suluks and they wanted to discuss with the relevant authority to take care of their people. But after they went back to the Philippines, suddenly the 2013 incident happened. These were the people who said that Tanduo belongs to the Sulu Sultan. The former politician also added that right after the incident, there have been frequent incidents such as kidnappings and murders of a tourist and police officer.