The Philippine government has asked Malaysia to extend its amnesty for illegal migrants by a month in order to accommodate the estimated 170,000 Filipinos who failed to register, the Philippine Star newspaper said today.

It said presidential special representative Nur Jaafar conveyed the request to the Malaysia.

Jaafar was appointed last month as a special representative on the Malaysia immigration issue after a meeting of the Philippine Inter-Agency Task Force, which was created when Malaysia granted amnesty in 2002.

The amnesty period ended yesterday and Malaysian authorities were to start rounding up illegal migrants.

Filipinos and Indonesians form the bulk of illegal migrants in Malaysia and an estimated 170,000 Filipinos should have taken up the amnesty offer, according to the Philippine government.

Navy vessals to Sabah

The Philippines task force is composed of the secretaries of foreign affairs, labour, social welfare and development, immigration, national defense and other bodies.

Foreign affairs undersecretary for migrant workers Jose Brillantes said the government created the task force and prepared measures for repatriation to prevent a repeat of the chaos that took place in 2002 when thousands of Filipinos returned home at the same time, the paper said.

Brillantes said the government would send at least one or two navy vessels to Sabah as a gesture to show Kuala Lumpur that Manila wants to take illegal migrants off Malaysia's hands.

The Philippine embassy in Malaysia was reported to have issued around 17,500 travel documents. Malaysian authorities, however, estimate that only about 6,600 Filipinos have actually left the country.

In the state of Sabah alone, Malaysian police believe there are around 170,000 undocumented Filipinos.