Lockdown in Masjid India: Foreign missions told to provide for their citizens

CORONAVIRUS | Foreign missions have been told to provide meals for the vast majority of residents in the Selangor Mansion and Malayan Mansion buildings in Kuala Lumpur, which have been placed under total lockdown.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said 97 percent of the 6,000 affected were migrants.

"I have said it clearly before, migrants in our country are the responsibility of their respective embassies (and high commissions)," he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

The lockdown on the two buildings in Jalan Masjid India was announced yesterday after 19 Covid-19 positive cases were detected in the premises.

Currently, the government provides Malaysians under the enhanced movement control order (MCO) with essentials.

According to Ismail, migrants under the enhanced MCO can also purchase essentials by placing orders at the operations centre enforcing the lockdown.

The senior minister had announced last week that all foreign missions were responsible for distributing aid to their citizens in Malaysia.

There are reportedly some six million migrant workers in Malaysia according to unofficial estimates.

It is unclear if the directive meant that embassies must also look after refugees, or if the Malaysian government would be helping them.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are some 178,990 refugees and asylum seekers registered with it in Malaysia as of February.

This includes some 101,010 Rohingyas who are effectively stateless due to Myanmar's refusal to grant them citizenship. - Mkini