The All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM) for the Reform of Prisons and All Places of Detention said the focus must be on finding ways to decongest detention centres, which have proven to be transmission hotspots during the pandemic.
This comes after home minister Hamzah Zainudin said over the weekend that enforcement agencies would be conducting operations over the full lockdown period until June 14 to detain undocumented foreign workers.
“It is unacceptable that the government still considers the option of mass arrests and imprisonments as a viable option to control the pandemic, especially when more than 109 countries have followed the evidence and implemented decongestion measures and alternatives to incarceration,” the group said in a statement.
“The government must reconsider its suggestion of detaining undocumented migrants and focus instead on efforts to reduce prison overcrowding.
“In this same vein, we urge the government to consider alternative measures to imprisonment for all MCO and lockdown offences. It is time to seriously rethink its punitive approach and accept that Covid-19 requires a health approach.”
The group said the only way to break the chain of infection was through inclusive public health management, including the vaccination of vulnerable groups and those in detention.
“Locking up undocumented migrants would also create a climate of fear that would deter the most vulnerable from volunteering to be vaccinated. Without their participation in the national vaccination programme, achieving herd immunity will be elusive,” it said.
APPGM is made up of Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang-Umno), Rohani Abdul Karim (Batang Lupar-GPS), the opposition’s Nurul Izzah (Permatang Pauh-PKR), Mohd Azis Jamman (Sepanggar-Warisan) and Liew Chin Tong (DAP senator), as well as Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman from the Centre of Excellence for Research in AIDS, and lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo.
In a separate joint statement, other opposition parliamentarians said the government was sending mixed messages, with coordinating minister for the vaccine rollout Khairy Jamaluddin earlier stating that migrants, documented or otherwise, would not be arrested should they step forward to be inoculated.
“This is a critical issue which needs to be resolved immediately. We call upon the Prime Minister Muhyiddin (Yassin) to resolve the contradiction in policy created by Hamzah.
“The prime minister should issue a statement as to what exactly is the government’s policy on vaccination for undocumented migrant workers. He should also assure everyone that there will be protection for any migrant and refugee who is willing to come forward to be vaccinated.”
With an estimated three million undocumented migrants in the country, dissuading them from coming forward will only hinder Malaysia’s aspiration of achieving herd immunity by the end of this year, the MPs said.
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