Malaysian Medical Association condemns ‘inhumane raid and detaining’ of undocumented Bangladeshi workers

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) yesterday condemned the raid of undocumented migrant workers, including Bangladeshis, and called for treating them more humanely in its efforts to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, MMA President Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy said the strong-arm raid of undocumented migrants in Cyberjaya, Selangor last Monday will prompt the community to flee and hide from the authorities and complicate efforts to curb Covid-19.

Malaysian Immigration Department detained 156 migrants, including 62 Bangladeshis, 42 Indonesians, 20 Nepalese, 29 Myanmar nationals, one from India, and one Pakistan. They include 144 men and 12 women aged 23 to 50.

The arrested migrants were taken to the Immigration Department's headquarters in Putrajaya for Covid-19 screening and further investigations. If found guilty, they will be detained at the temporary detention centre in Semenyih, Selangor, before being deported back to their respective home countries.

"MMA strongly condemns the Immigration Department's inhumane treatment of undocumented migrants during the raid. We are shocked at the way fellow human beings were treated by the agency's officers," Dr Muniandy said in a statement, reports Malaysian newspaper Malay Mail.

Dr Muniandy also questioned spraying Dettol directly on the rounded-up migrants, saying it is not part of the standard operating procedures from the National Security Council or the Health Ministry.

"These are the types of incidents that have led to migrants not trusting the authorities. This trust deficit needs to be addressed.

"The usual practice of 'raid and detain' must stop, and better ways should be sought to tackle the problem of undocumented migrants. More raids will result in more detention centre clusters as we have repeatedly seen."

Dr Muniandy urged the federal government to engage with NGOs in reaching out to the undocumented migrants so that assurances can be given that they will be helped and not harmed.

"Undocumented migrants are one of the most important groups to vaccinate. If half of the Malaysians in the country have yet to register for the vaccine, imagine how enormous a challenge it will be to get the two-to-three million undocumented migrant workers vaccinated.

"We may not achieve herd immunity if we fail in our efforts to vaccinate our significantly high migrant worker population," he said, adding that to get both documented and undocumented migrant workers to cooperate, the authorities need to first start treating them like human beings.

In another statement Tuesday, at least 20 Malaysian rights bodies said the planned crackdown on undocumented migrant workers is state-endorsed violence aimed at the most vulnerable group of people in the country.

They said the detentions of the migrants raise concerns of possible new infections and clusters, just like what was seen in immigration detention centres last year. 

"This continues to put the lives of millions of migrant workers and Malaysians in jeopardy," it said.

"Malaysia should not punish migrants for being in conditions which are not of their faults. We believe that 95% of undocumented migrants in Malaysia are in this position because of violations by agents, employers, and human traffickers."