North-South Initiative director Adrian Pereira said DBKL was using “weak logic and discriminatory excuses” when it said the ban was to prevent foreigners from buying goods they would resell.
He told FMT the City Hall statement, issued on Tuesday, made it clear to him that DBKL was assuming that refugees would abuse the transaction and that migrants were more likely than others to spread Covid-19.
Both the assumptions indicated bad faith on DBKL’s part, he added.
Referring to DBKL’s explanation that it was seeking to change the public perception that it was “still controlled” by foreigners, he asked: “Is this due to our leaders’ tendency to cook up populist solutions?”
He alleged that DBKL had no idea of how to use “rights-based solutions” to manage problematic situations.
Sumitha Shaanthinni Kishna, the director of an NGO called Our Journey, said DBKL appeared to be holding a double standard since many Malaysian grocers would also sell items bought at the wholesale market.
Furthermore, she added, it gave no evidence to support its claim that foreigners were reselling their purchases at the market.
Previous to the announcement of the ban, KL mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan issued a memo saying no foreigner without a work permit or unaccompanied by a Malaysian would be allowed into the market. He also said the rule applied as well to refugees holding cards issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The memo has been making the social media rounds.
DBKL has also said foreigners were not allowed to work in wholesale markets as per the city’s by-laws.
Referring to City Hall’s assertion that there was no need for foreigners to enter the market since the shopping there is not retail, Sumitha said: “If that is the case, no one except those buying wholesale should be allowed to shop at such markets. Everyone shops there for the variety and the lower prices.”
Migrant Care Malaysia coordinator Alex Ong said he understood that DBKL was trying to reduce the number of people shopping at the market.
He noted that the ban would not affect migrant workers with work permits but would affect refugees working or doing business there.
“It is thus important to formulate clear policies to solve matters related to the refugees’ employment and livelihood,” he said.
Fake or not? Check our quick fake news buster here.