PUTRAJAYA must put a halt at once to the mass detention of undocumented immigrants to stop further spread of the coronavirus among the detainees, said a civil society group today.

The People’s Health Forum (PHF) said it was regrettable that the government had failed to heed the various calls for a moratorium on actions against undocumented immigrants for at least six months.

“The government has been forewarned on the implications of crackdown measures during this time of crisis and outbreak, including new outbreaks of disease, and more critically, disease transmission being driven underground,” a statement from PHF read.

“While the government has stated that it will be screening detainees in the detention centres, testing alone is not a foolproof measure to prevent the spread of the disease,” it said in a statement.

The call for immigration to desist  from rounding up illegal visitors comes as a new virus cluster is detected in the Immigration Department’s detention centres.

Six infections were today reported at the Sepang detention centre, the third holding facility to see an outbreak.

The Semenyih immigration detention facility has reported 27 virus cases while the Bukit Jali centre has 60 cases.

The Health Ministry is investigating the source of the outbreak at the three centres.

PHF – made up of Agora Society Malaysia, Citizens’ Health Initiative, Health Equity Initiatives, Parti Sosialis Malaysia and Third World Network – said it had sent a memorandum on the issue to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on March 20.

PHF said it was likely that the source of infection at the detention centres were the newer inmates, who were held together with those who were detained prior to the movement control order.

“Contrary to prevailing logic, the government’s punitive approach toward undocumented migrants and refugees during this time of crisis poses a public health risk.

“It also hurts the local economy as many sectors rely on such workers for their day-to-day operations. 

“It further puts immigration detention officers at grave risk of contracting the disease, with their potential infection posing health risks to their family members too.”

PHF said the arrest of undocumented migrants at this time also had caused the immigrant communities to distrust the health system.

It urged the Health Ministry to take lead on virus containment measures, including for non-citizens.

It proposed that the government invite the Malaysian Human Rights Commission to visit the detention centres to provide an independent report of the events leading to the outbreak of Covid-19 at those sites. – May 24, 2020.