Undocumented migrants not ‘acceptable casualties’, LFL tells Ismail Sabri

CORONAVIRUS | Human rights group Lawyers For Liberty (LFL) has blasted Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob for saying that the government will not “bow down” to demands to protect migrants’ rights in its attempts to protect Malaysians from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"It is startling that the government believes that the mass incarceration of undocumented migrants during the movement control order (MCO) would protect Malaysians from the pandemic.

"Any increase in cases will be a burden to our own healthcare system, and the spread of Covid-19, even among migrants in detention centres, may increase risk of infection to immigration officers, staff and frontline workers who have to deal with those infected," said LFL coordinator Zaid Malek in a statement today.

Yesterday, Ismail had told his critics to be thankful to Putrajaya for detaining undocumented migrants who could spread Covid-19 to the general public if they are allowed to roam freely.

He added that he could not understand why there are groups raising up the issue of their arrest when there should be no issue at all.

Zaid challenged this view saying that further mass detention of migrants would only exacerbate the problem as crowded detention centres would be the perfect setting for a major spike of Covid-19 cases.

"Infection amongst migrants in detention centres must not be conceived as an ‘acceptable casualty’ in our fight against the pandemic.

"Healthcare is a basic right that should be the top priority during these trying times. Treatment could be given without detaining migrants en masse, which would put otherwise healthy migrants at risk of infection. It is the humane thing to do," he said.

As of Tuesday, a total of 4,342 undocumented migrants were detained at the immigration detention depots in Bukit Jalil, Semenyih and KLIA.

The government has adopted a standard operating procedure to round them up in enhanced MCO areas when the lockdown is about to be lifted.

Zaid called on the PN government to acknowledge that many of these undocumented migrants are victims of those exploiting ineffective government policies.

"They were brought in by domestic private agents to be recruited as migrant workers and only turned ‘illegal’ due to a weakness in the system.

"Yet, it is the migrants who are vilified instead of the agents or employers who exploited them. They are the root cause of the problem, and the government must tackle that head-on instead of relying on cheap jingoistic rhetoric," he said.

LFL strongly urged that undocumented migrants be granted temporary amnesty and that the government ensures that they have the necessary access to treatment and healthcare during the pandemic. - Mkini