Dr Jemilah Mahmood said this during an online conference organised by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs today.

She said there were two million documented migrants while the actual number of undocumented migrants in the country was not known.

“So, I think we have to address the whole issue of migrant workers,” she said.

She added that when dealing with the pandemic, xenophobia was not the way to go.

“They (foreign workers) are with us and they live in our communities. Xenophobia is really harmful and it makes it harder to find a solution to the problem.

“When people are being xenophobic, these foreign workers will go underground and hide. This will make it harder to control the spread of Covid-19.”

Jemilah also criticised employers who failed to provide basic amenities and consider the human rights of their workers.

“If we do not ensure a proper standard of living for foreign workers and take care of their health, then we will also be putting ourselves at risk.”

She said the government must strictly enforce the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446).

“How can we allow companies to flourish without looking at the situation of their workers?”

Moving forward, she proposed labour reform by reducing the dependency on foreign workers.

She said the government must ensure better salaries for Malaysian workers to take over the jobs that are mostly done by foreign workers currently.

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