PHOTO FEATURE by Luke Hunt

PALAU GAYA, Malaysia — In the shallow waters off the coast of the Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian state of Sabah in northern Borneo, about 30,000 Philippine migrants have built stilted homes. Most live in absolute poverty, their families having fled their homeland in the southern Philippines, where separatists have battled the government for more than three decades. Malaysian authorities are attempting to forcibly repatriate thousands of Philippinos. Malaysian authorities say up to 150,000 of the estimated 400,000 illegal immigrants living in Sabah could be sent back.