DBKL: Refugees banned from entering KL wholesale market

Refugees are now banned from entering the Kuala Lumpur wholesale market, according to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

The DBKL notice for permission to enter the market dated June 19 was issued under the instructions of KL mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan.

"Please be informed that all individuals who want to enter the market will be screened and required to register before being allowed entry," said the notice sighted by Malaysiakini.

When contacted, a DBKL staff confirmed that the notice, which has caught the attention of migrant rights activists on social media, was issued by its licensing department.

Aside from the ban on UNHCR cardholders, it was stated that all foreigners with valid documents who wished to enter the market must be accompanied by a Malaysian.

As for market workers and license holders, the notice stated that they would only be allowed entry with a valid pass.

No reason for the ban was stated in the notice.

Authorities had previously raided the market and its surrounding areas, leading to arrests of hundreds of undocumented migrants - including Rohingya refugees - who used to form 90 percent of the market workers.

In April, the KL wholesale market - the largest in the country and a transit point for most of the fresh food in the Klang Valley - was temporarily closed for disinfection work and screening of workers for Covid-19 infections.

While the government did not put the wholesale market under an enhanced movement control order, it was required to close for two days on April 20-21, which was then extended for another two days to April 23.

The vicinity surrounding the wholesale market was placed under lockdown after the government identified a Covid-19 cluster at the wholesale market where 28 people were infected and a 36-year-old Myanmar man died.

Cases linked to the cluster have since been identified across several other states. - Mkini