A RIGHTS group today slammed Putrajaya on the arrest of undocumented migrants workers at the Menara One City Plaza in Kuala Lumpur, which is under an enhanced movement control order (EMCO).

Tenaganita, an advocacy group for migrants, refugees, women and children, said Putrajaya had gone back on its promise that no operation will be conducted against undocumented migrant workers during the movement control order period.

“I am angry with the government. Where is your heart in this matter? They are not able to work and and earn because of the pandemic, now you arrest them for violating immigration offences,” said Aegile Fernandez, who is Tenaganita director and consultant on anti-human trafficking.

“What happened to the promise that undocumented workers will not be arrested under the MCO? How can we trust you? You have to respect them even if they are undocumented. They came here for a reason. They are the ones who helped develop this country.

“My message to the government: it is better to send all migrant workers home and let our own people work in construction sites. At least the migrants can go home with dignity and they don’t have to be slaves here.”

On Wednesday, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said all undocumented migrants found in EMCO areas would be handed over to the Immigration Department.

He told reporters in Putrajaya that the government can use temporary prisons as detention centres if there is not enough space at Immigration depots.

Ismail Sabri had earlier given his assurance that migrant workers, including those who have no documents and who participated in a tabligh at the Sri Petaling mosque, would not be arrested if they came forward for Covid-19 screening.

“We won’t focus on their documents but rather on whether they are positive with Covid-19. The most extreme case that could happen is only a 14-day quarantine (for Covid-19). That is all (that can happen),” he had said.

Aegile said the government would always pick on the victims instead of detaining or charging employers or agents.

“Why must the victims be arrested? Employers, agents or subcontractors have never been detained for hiring undocumented workers,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“Clearly, the government has no policy on this. The government has always been the problem in this issue,” she added.

Sources told The Malaysian Insight that authorities had detained undocumented migrant workers in Menara One City this morning.

The Immigration Department and police have yet to issue a statement on the matter.

Menara One City is the first high-rise residential area to come under an EMCO in the Kuala Lumpur on March 31, placing 3,200 residents in 502 units under total lockdown.

Another two residential blocks, Selangor Mansion and the nearby Malayan Mansion in the Masjid India area, were placed under EMCO on April 7 after 15 Covid-19 cases were detected there. This involved some 5,000 to 6,000 people in 365 residential units.

In EMCO areas, basic supplies are provided by the government to the residents, who are confined to their homes while health authorities carry out case detections. – May 1, 2020.