The Migrant Care Malaysia group said migrant workers and their families have been confined to certain locations without the means and resources to obtain food and necessities because of restrictions under the movement control order.

The group’s coordinator, Alex Ong, said its volunteers, called “caregivers”, are frequently stopped by the authorities on their way to deliver food and supplies.

“This is despite them holding an official letter of clarification from the Indonesian Embassy,” he said in a statement.

Ong said the volunteers were reluctant about saying where they were going because some migrant communities were worried that the authorities would check on them and deport them.

He called for the volunteers to be given safe passage in order to distribute food and supplies to the migrant communities in the Klang Valley.

On Apr 1, the government gave charities and other groups the green light to distribute food to the needy but said they must abide by certain guidelines, such as wearing face masks and gloves and maintain social distancing.