Petition to PM: Stop arresting undocumented migrants, focus on Covid-19

 

A group of more than 80 organisations, civil societies, associations as well as 71 individuals today sent Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin a petition urging him to stop the mass arrests of undocumented migrants.

“We, from the various organisations that have signed this petition, view the current approach of arresting and detaining undocumented migrants at this time as further complicating efforts to fight the pandemic among Malaysians,” the petition said, as read out by People’s Health Forum representative Lim Chee Han at a virtual press conference after the petition was submitted.

The government should instead focus on the goal of controlling the spread of Covid-19, Lim added.

The signatories of the petition include the People’s Health Forum, Citizens’ Health Initiative, PSM, All Women’s Action Society, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim), Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), Malaysian Medical Association, Sisters in Islam, Suaram, Tenaganita, Umany and many others.

In reading out the petition, Lim said Home Affairs Minister Hamzah Zainuddin’s recent statements have created the perception that the government is launching a plan to arrest and detain undocumented migrants on a large scale over a short period of time.

Lim said such operations to arrest undocumented migrants will only further intimidate all foreign workers, regardless of their documentation status.

This will drive them to hide and avoid any government representative.

“Therefore, this will defeat the government’s efforts to create herd immunity in Malaysia,” Lim said.

The government had previously said herd immunity required 80 percent of the population to be inoculated against Covid-19 and that this included the migrant community.

The petition also pointed out that detaining undocumented migrants at this time would highly likely create new Covid-19 clusters in detention centres.

“This will increase the spread of Covid-19 among undocumented migrants and will also infect immigration officers, police officers and court staff who are involved in remand control as well as their family members.

“This possibility can and should be avoided,” Lim said.

The petition also said the Immigration Department does not have the capacity to arrest and repatriate the two to three million undocumented migrants that are in Malaysia.

Estimates by the National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) as of July 1, 2020, showed that some immigration detention centres have already exceeded their capacity by almost 3,000 detainees.

“Besides that, more than 95 percent of undocumented migrants are working and contributing to the national economy. In fact, our country’s economic activities also require their services,” Lim said.

"Hamzah may believe his assertiveness in this matter is helping to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic but he should keep in mind that every action plan should be based on clear, objective and reasonable scientific analysis.

“Currently, the approach of arresting and detaining undocumented migrants will be detrimental to the government’s efforts to control the spread of Covid-19 in our country,” Lim said.

Aside from controlling the spread of Covid-19 in the country, other goals that are currently secondary should be postponed if they conflict with the primary goal, he added.

“We sincerely hope that you (the prime minister) will bring this issue to the National Security Council (NSC) meeting so that a more appropriate and integrated approach can be formulated for handling undocumented migrants when Covid-19 is spreading,” Lim said.

On June 6, the Immigration Department had nabbed 156 immigrants at an illegal settlement in Cyberjaya.

Hamzah had responded to his critics over the latest round of crackdown on undocumented migrants by saying it would be impossible to administer Covid-19 vaccines to them if they did not come forward.

He had said the operations were intended to “assist” undocumented migrants register for a valid document, get vaccinated and later be given the option to leave the country or work here legally work. - Mkini