Commissioner Mah Weng Kwai said NGOs and civil society are stakeholders who deal with problems revolving around undocumented migrants, including advocating and highlighting their plight.

And in this case, they have done their job.

“Their job doesn’t include providing money to accommodate undocumented migrants. It’s just not right,” he said after attending a stakeholders’ consultation on forced labour issues in the construction industry.

“At the end of the day, it has to be the government to not only tend to the existing policies but also the plight of people who come into the country.”

Mah also said he would like to believe that Hamzah Zainudin’s statement was “made in jest”.

He said it was unrealistic to shift the responsibility to the NGOs since “they complained”, adding that the NGOs were short of funds themselves.

Yesterday, Malay Mail reported that Hamzah mocked human rights advocates who questioned the government’s shoddy treatment of detained undocumented migrants before deportation.

He had asked if NGOs were willing to cover the daily cost to accommodate immigrants at the detention centres.

“It costs us about RM30 per head per day to care for them at the detention centres. If these NGOs care so much about these illegal immigrants, they should cover the cost. You can put them up in hotels if you like,” he was quoted as saying.

Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph, who was also at the event, said while there was a cost in managing undocumented migrants, the government of the day was using the people’s money to do this.

Hence, it all boils down to a proper management system, he said, adding that “it’s the obligation of the state”.