After raids, Health Ministry vows to protect migrants from Covid-19
CORONAVIRUS | In light of the immigration raid on undocumented migrants at certain areas under enhanced movement control order (MCO), the Health Ministry says it will continue striving to protect all from Covid-19 regardless of nationality and immigration status.
Asked today about the effects of the raid on the ministry’s mass testing efforts, director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah stressed that the exercise was beyond his ministry’s control.
CORONAVIRUS | In light of the immigration raid on undocumented migrants at certain enhanced movement control order (MCO) areas, the Health Ministry says it will continue to protect all from Covid-19 regardless of nationality and immigration status.
Asked today about the effects of the raid on the ministry’s mass testing efforts, director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah stressed that the exercise was beyond his ministry’s control.
“Our job at the ministry is to make sure that, whether they are documented migrants, undocumented migrants or our citizens, they are not infected. So we locked down the area, we did tests for all of them, and we made sure they were not infected with Covid-19 [...]
“Other than that, it is the responsibility of the Home Ministry and the Immigration Department,” he said.
“Our job is to make sure that whether in prison or in a containment centre, they are free from Covid-19 infections,” he added.
Noor Hisham previously explained that mass testing efforts were being targeted at enhanced MCO areas where non-citizens had been exposed to the Sri Petaling cluster of Covid-19 cases.
This morning, hundreds of immigration officers, police, Health Ministry officials and Civil Defence Force officers descended upon Menara City One, Malayan Mansion and other buildings along Jalan Masjid India - all enhanced MCO areas.
Eyewitnesses said that door-to-door checks were conducted and those without documentation were taken away in trucks.
The raid was ongoing as of 4pm this afternoon.
The Immigration Department has yet to issue a statement on the matter.
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