Malaysian Bar president AG Kalidas said Putrajaya must channel its resources and manpower to expedite the vaccination process and achieve herd immunity instead.

In a statement, he also said it must be done compassionately and collectively as a society regardless of nationality.

Home minister Hamzah Zainudin had previously said the immigration department would conduct operations to detain undocumented migrants during the two-week lockdown.

Kalidas pointed out that Hamzah’s statement contradicted that of vaccine coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who had assured that migrants would not be arrested if they came forward to receive their Covid-19 jab.

“We fear that migrants will evade the authorities and refuse to seek medical treatment or vaccination, for fear of arrests if the authorities start taking enforcement action against them.

“It is crucial to foster trust and confidence between the government and migrants to ensure that they will come forward,” he said.

He added that the arrest of migrants in large numbers could lead to an increased risk of exposure to the virus or new clusters in prisons and detention centres.

“The Malaysian Bar urges the government to show empathy and compassion and allow all migrants — without regard to their immigration status — to have access to testing, treatment and Covid-19 vaccination without the fear of arrest or detention.”

Khairy had said he would discuss the matter with Hamzah, adding that the science, technology and innovation ministry would be submitting a joint paper with the home ministry on “how to approach a vaccination programme for undocumented migrants”.