PUTRAJAYA should treat refugees and undocumented migrants more humanely as authorities go after their landlords, said migrant group Tenaganita.

At least 700 Rohingya refugees have lost their dwellings in Kuala Lumpur this week after City Hall issued a notice barring undocumented migrants from renting houses in the city.

Tenaganita volunteer Hasnah Hussin said standing up for refugees does not mean giving them equality but being more humane towards them.

“Our worry is not about equality but we hope for mercy, mercy for refugees,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

She said refugees and migrant workers had been badly affected as well, under the movement control order imposed last March, and their fate continues to hang in the balance.

Hasnah added that if the refugees and undocumented migrants were to lose their houses they would then become homeless and become a possible source for spreading the Covid-19 virus.

“We understand that the government can no longer accept refugees for fear of Covid-19 but we do not understand why we must put pressure on those already in Malaysia.”

Tenaganita has received complaints from refugees asking for shelter after they were forced from their homes without notice last week.

Ethnic Rohingya refugees include women, children and elderly, who had rented houses in Selayang.

They are all currently placed under the care of several refugee civil society groups working with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

However, Hasnah said the shelter provided is only temporary.

Section 55E of the Immigration Act prohibits any party from allowing undocumented migrants to enter or remain on their premises, subject to a fine of between RM10,000 and RM30,000, or imprisonment of up to one year for each individual.

Anyone hiring an undocumented migrant could be fined between RM10,000 and RM50,000, or face prison under Section 55B of the same act.

Yesterday, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government had so far deported 19,111 illegal immigrants to their respective countries after they tested negative for Covid-19.

They comprise 45% Indonesians, with the significant majority of the remainder from Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Over the past three months, Malaysia has tightened its grip on its migrant community on the grounds that it wants to curb the Covif-19 outbreak.

Aside from banning migrant workers from employment in markets, they have also been banned from praying at mosques.

Last May, the Home Ministry said it considers UNHCR card holders illegal immigrants.

As of March, 179,521 UNHCR cardholders have been temporarily residing in Malaysia, 56.6% of which are Rohingya. – July 12, 2020.