PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is preparing offshore military bases in the Sulu Sea to prepare for an influx of “hundreds of thousands” of displaced southern Filipinos if peace talks between the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) break down.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the bases are expected to be fully operational in Sabah waters by next month.
He said security forces were also preparing for the possibility of displaced people from southern Philippines entering the country to escape war.
“If the peace process can’t go through in June then it means war. Twelve years of talks and because of one incident, they will have war,” Hishammuddin said, referring to the January gun battle in Mamasapano Town that killed 44 Philippine security forces and 20 MILF personnel.
He said the number of civilians that could be displaced in the event of conflict in the region could number in the “hundreds of thousands” and Malaysia had to take precautionary measures should tensions spill over to Sabah.
“If we have a wall of offshore bases, we may have a chance to stop the exodus of people,” he told reporters yesterday.
Hishammuddin said Sabah was a major concern for the ministry.
Speaking in relation to the search for MH370, Hishammuddin said if the operation failed to find the plane in the 60,000 sq km section of the southern Indian Ocean – the tripartite team could end up looking for it for the next six decades.
“If, until May, we do not find the plane in the seven arches and we add new search areas, we could take up to 60 years to find it because there are only five companies that have the equipment to enter that terrain,” he said.