KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government will not stop people from providing assistance to undocumented migrants, said state local government and housing minister Masidi Manjun.
He said that as a matter of policy, the state government was only extending assistance to its citizens.
“But the government has no objections to any NGO or individual helping undocumented migrants,” he said in his daily Covid-19 statement today.
There have been local news reports that the authorities have found migrants reaching out for help by raising white flags in the state capital.
Responding to the reports, Masidi said the Sabah immigration department subsequently conducted checks at the concerned location.
He said the department found seven white flags still remaining in the area, adding there were also names and contact numbers written on posters tied to the poles.
“We called the numbers and found that they belonged to seven Filipino families who are believed to be undocumented staying in a squatter area at Bukit Bantayan Kiansom in Inanam,” Masidi said.
He added there were several women, aged in their 50s, and children in the families.
“From the phone conservations, we learnt that they did not have sufficient food supply after their means of getting an income were cut off. The women’s husbands were working in Kota Belud and were stranded there.
“The inter-district travel ban under the current movement control order (MCO 3.0) has also kept the men from reuniting with their families,” he said.
On another matter, Masidi said two staff members at a private clinic were behind the Pekan Ranau cluster that resulted in at least 15 people, including patients, being infected with Covid-19.
He said the workplace cluster was detected by the clinic itself after symptomatic screenings of the two staff members, who were then confirmed to be infected on July 10.
He said 246 close contact screenings were then carried out, adding that seven test results are pending. - FMT
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