UNDER-FIRE Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin today said his push to round up undocumented migrants during the two weeks of total lockdown is aimed at helping them get vaccinated against Covid-19.

He said since they do not have legal documents for their stay here they could not register for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

“If they don’t have documents, how can we help them? So, through this operation, when they are detained, we will trace their employers and ask them to act as sponsors to contact the migrants’ respective embassies for the proper documents,” he told a press conference during a visit to the temporary immigration depot in Beranang, Selangor.

Hamzah was asked to respond to criticism from various quarters for pushing for the arrests of undocumented migrants during the lockdown from June 1 to 14.

He was also accused of contradicting national Covid-19 immunisation programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who said previously that migrants would not be hunted down and assured that they would not be arrested when they came forward for the vaccination.

The latest to criticise Hamzah is Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Azalina Othman Said, who said rounding up undocumented migrants at such a time is unacceptable due to the high risk of Covid-19 transmissions. 

But Hamzah said making arrests is part of “protecting the rights of citizens”.

“If they are not arrested, they will definitely not come forward themselves to get vaccinated,” he said.

“So, this is the best plan in order to get the vaccine to them.”

For undocumented migrants who do not have an employer, he said the ministry will have other ways to register them for the vaccination.

“We have been in talks with several embassies, such as Indonesia and Vietnam, to be ready to help in preparing these documents,” he said.

He added that once the undocumented migrants obtained the papers and given the vaccination, they could opt to work legally in Malaysia or return to their home countries. “That is the next step. For now, we focus on getting them the documents.” – June 3, 2021.