In a written reply, the ministry said 12,530 were from the Philippines and 2,999 were Indonesians who entered the country through Sabah.

The ministry was responding to Sapawi Amat Wasali (BN-Sipitang) who asked for the number of illegals deported to their country of origin in 2016, especially those from the Philippines and Indonesia.

To another question by Sim Chee Keong (DAP-Bukit Mertajam), who had asked for the number of foreign workers in the country according to country of origin, the ministry said as of Jan 31, 2016, there were 1.8 million foreign workers.

The highest number of workers were from Indonesia (760,733), followed by Nepal, (410,950), Bangladesh (251,309), Myanmar (139,821), India (119,628), Pakistan (63,632), Philippines (58,399), Vietnam (31,694), China (14,104), Thailand (12,765), Sri Lanka (6,265) and Cambodia (5,839).

The government has in the past promised speedy action in tackling the issue of illegal immigrants in the country.