Immigration wags finger at foreigners violating SOPs after 'Karens' break rules

 

The Immigration Department has "advised" foreigners to follow Covid-19 SOPs and warned they might be deported.

This is after recent social media storms over three Western women who violated SOPs by not wearing masks in public.

In a statement today, Immigration Department director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said some of the foreigners who went viral for violating SOPs recently had challenged the authorities to take action against them.

"In relation to this, the Immigration Department would advise all foreign nationals to obey current instructions and regulations by government agencies in relation to preventing the spread of Covid-19," he added.

He said that the Immigration Department will also not hesitate to cancel and passes and immigration facilities provided.

This will result in them being deported to their country of origin and blacklisted from entering the country.

Khairul Dzaimee also said that locals who are the sponsors or employers of migrants must be more responsible in ensuring they follow the country's laws.

On Oct 27, a video clip of a woman raising her voice after being denied entry into the Dior store at KLCC for not wearing a mask went viral on Twitter.

The same woman also went viral for attempting to enter a shopping mall in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur without a mask, and again after being spotted at a mall in Hartamas also not wearing a mask.

The woman, who identified herself as Kerry from Manchester in a video defending herself, has been fined RM3,000 over the KLCC incident.

Internet users have nicknamed the woman "Karen", which is a term often used on social media to refer to entitled white women who wield their privilege to their benefit.

More recently, police today also began investigations into two other Western women who were photographed walking at the KLCC park without a mask.

The women have also been dubbed as "Karens" by social media users.

The warning issued by Khairul Dzaimee today is in stark contrast to action taken against Bangladeshi national Md Rayhan Kabir last year.

Rayhan, who had a valid working visa, was the subject of a manhunt after he highlighted the poor treatment of undocumented migrants in an Al-Jazeera documentary.

His remarks were deemed to have insulted the country and led to Immigration revoking his visa, and later arresting and deporting him.- Mkini