FOREIGNERS feel more confident getting vaccinated through programmes organised by charity groups with the assistance of migrant ethnic and community representatives, the Malaysian Red Crescent Society said.

Its secretary-general Hakim Hamzah said that undocumented migrants fear possible arrest by the authorities if they show up at public vaccination centres.

This is why the group organises a specially-catered vaccination programme to encourage more undocumented migrants to get immunised against Covid-19, he told The Malaysian Insight during a programme to vaccinate migrants recently in Klang.

“From September 4 to (Friday), 2,510 migrants, including undocumented ones, have been vaccinated. This figure, however, does not include Sabah.

He elaborated that the programme was coordinated with the help of a group called Our Journey, several international embassies and Bar Council’s Migrants, Refugees and Immigration Affairs Committee.

According to Hakim, The Malaysian Red Crescent Society is the solitary NGO that was entrusted and permitted by the government to distribute vaccines to foreign nationals in the country.

“We do not only feel neutral, but also empathetic. This is among the factors that made us encourage foreign nationals, especially those without documents to come out and get their vaccination.

“In all honesty they feel scared to come out as they worry about possible arrest by the authorities if they show up at any (vaccination centre),” he said.

He also added that the Malaysian Red Crescent Society has since the beginning (of the vaccination process) been collaborating with other associations and migrant ethnic and community leaders to identify unvaccinated individuals.

According to him, the society only allows pre-registration through respective associations or ethnic leaders and will not accept direct individual registration at the vaccination centre.

This is a safeguard to prevent overcrowding at the centres.

“We… obtain vaccines from the government based on the identified list of names and conduct vaccination at the migrant community’s settlement or quarter.”

“One location is Kg Delek, Klang where 105 Cambodian nationals have been given Covid-19 vaccines.

“This is our eighth location. For the upcoming weekend, a few other programmes will be conducted in Kepong and Ampang for migrants of other nationalities,” he told the Malaysian Insight on Thursday.

The vaccination programme in Kg Delek, Klang was the first programme organised for the Cambodian community with the aid of the Red Crescent.

He is happy that its initiative received a positive response from the Thai, Cambodian and other embassies, who had voiced their appreciation for the free vaccine distribution.

‘Hope’

Meanwhile, the Cambodian ambassador to Malaysia, Cheuy Vichet, expressed gratitude to the Malaysian government for providing vaccines to Cambodian nationals in the country.

“The Malaysian government has charitably distributed vaccines for free to all foreign nationals regardless of their legal status.

“We are very pleased with this initiative as no one will be truly safe until everyone is safe,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

He estimated that over 4,000 documented and 50,000 undocumented Cambodian nationals are currently based in Malaysia.

“I have no accurate figure as the complete data belongs to the Malaysian Immigration Department,” he said.

According to the ambassador, the majority of Cambodians reside in the Klang Valley, Johor, Penang, Pahang, Kelantan, Perak and Melaka.

“Most of the undocumented migrants are also not registered with the embassy,” he said.

A Cambodian community representative in Kg Delek, Klang, Abdul Rahman Mohd Noor, 54, said that they had waited over two months to get their vaccines.

“Over 600 Cambodian nationals reside here, and today 105 have received vaccines.”

“Those who work and have documents have already got vaccinated with the assistance of their employers. However, there are still hundreds who are still waiting.

“Our hope is with vaccination programmes such as this, particularly for the undocumented ones who are living in Malaysia,” said the community representative who has lived in Malaysia for over 40 years.

At the same time, the Ministry of Home Affairs has instructed health workers to report every foreign national who gets vaccinated.

Minister Hamzah Zainudin told Parliament that the order was one of the procedures determined by the cabinet on 30 July relating to vaccination programmes for undocumented migrants.

The order has been criticised by doctors from the Malaysian Medical Association who worry that such a policy will discourage vaccination among migrants. – September 26, 2021.