Covid-19: Rights groups urge gov't to offer amnesty to undocumented migrants
CORONAVIRUS | As the movement control order has been extended until April 14, rights groups have urged the government to offer temporary amnesty for undocumented migrants in a bid to ensure they would come forward for Covid-19 testing.
In a statement, the groups - Tenaganita, Eliminating Death and Abuse in Custody Together (Edict), Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (SABM) and Concerned Lawyers for Justice (CLJ) - said they received an anonymous report of arrests and detention of undocumented migrants in the past week since the order was enforced.
"We are concerned that police lockups and immigration detention centres may become clusters of Covid-19 cases if arrestees are not screened...
CORONAVIRUS | As the movement control order has been extended until April 14, rights groups have urged the government to offer temporary amnesty for undocumented migrants in a bid to ensure they would come forward for Covid-19 testing.
In a statement, the groups - Tenaganita, Eliminating Death and Abuse in Custody Together (Edict), Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (SABM) and Concerned Lawyers for Justice (CLJ) - said they received an anonymous report of arrests and detention of undocumented migrants in the past week since the order was enforced.
"We are concerned that police lockups and immigration detention centres may become clusters of Covid-19 cases if arrestees are not screened before they are mixed with prior detainees.
"All public servants who are in contact with the arrestees will be exposed to the virus," they said.
"We, therefore, call on the prime minister to announce a general, time-limited amnesty and moratorium on enforcement raids by all agencies on migrant communities.
"This does not mean the government stops border controls or anti-human trafficking actions, but it is meant to ensure undocumented migrants have safe passages to seek medical help [...]," said the groups.
The groups further cited Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's announcement on Monday that foreign workers must pay for testing and treatment in Malaysian hospitals.
"We are concerned that the announcement by the PM will lead to undetected cases and result in uncontrolled spread of Covid-19.
"The MCO, which has a great economic cost, will not meet its objectives," the groups stressed.
Later on Monday, Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah (below), however, clarified that any foreign national who exhibits Covid-19 infection symptoms need not pay for outpatient treatment fee at government hospitals or clinics.
With an extension of the order, the groups noted that such public policy measures have resulted in immense hardships for foreign workers.
"Thankfully, the impact has been mitigated by feeding programs initiated by many NGOs.
"But that is not enough, because for tracing and isolation measures to work, foreign workers must be included as members of the infected and likely-to-be-infected members of the population," they stressed.
Defence Minister Ismail Sabri previously said Rohingyas and other foreigners who attended the Seri Petaling mosque tabligh gathering had been urged to come forward immediately to be tested for Covid-19, even if they were undocumented migrants.
The tabligh gathering, which ran from February 27 to March 1, has been identified as the major cluster of Covid-19 infections in the country and region.
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