Govt must include undocumented migrants in vaccination programme, says NGO

KUALA LUMPUR – The Migrant Workers' Right to Redress Coalition (MWR2R) has called for a meeting with the government to raise concerns over institutionalised racism and xenophobia during the pandemic.

Considering the government’s plans to execute a national vaccination programme soon, MWR2R today urged the government to include undocumented migrant workers and foreign spouses as well.

MWR2R member and Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das said the government should make sure that the circumstances of every person are considered as no one in Malaysia should be excluded from the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

“If we do not do this, there will be a serious gap in the effectiveness of the vaccination effort in creating a much-needed difference to the pandemic that many people are hoping for,” she said during the virtual press conference organised by the coalition.

The coalition, she added, is willing to cooperate with the government to facilitate the vaccination process.

MWR2R spokesman and social activist Adrian Pereira, however, admitted that the process of vaccinating undocumented migrant workers will not be a walk in the park for the government. 

“The government is proposing for employers to bear the cost of vaccinating migrant workers. If this is the case, this means that only documented workers will have access to vaccination.

“Vaccination for documented workers should be managed by their employers. But in the case of undocumented migrant workers, it will be a challenge,” he said.

Pereira, who is also executive director of migrant workers’ rights group North South Initiatives, said the coalition continues to receive complaints of biased treatment against migrant workers – the latest being a group of workers who were forced to undergo Covid-19 testing by a condominium management.

“This is despite other tenants not being subjected to the same measures.

“One more case involved refugees who were locked in their home based on a suspicion that they had Covid-19.”

He added that local authorities are beginning to bar migrant workers and refugees from working at markets, prompting questions on their fate once they are detained.

“These are the symptoms of gross institutionalised racism and xenophobia from a policy that has spilled over into society. 

“It is going to take a lot of work for the government to address it, especially through the structure of integration programme and socialisation programme over the long term.

“The Covid-19 situation unfortunately made it worse,” said Pereira.

The government last March had urged migrant workers who were part of the tabligh cluster to come forward for Covid-19 tests, assuring that they would not be detained for not possessing valid travel documents.

However, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob later said undocumented migrants found in areas under an enhanced movement control order would be sent to detention centres once the restrictions ended. 

MWR2R works to highlight issues affecting migrant workers, domestic workers, refugees, asylum seekers and foreign spouses in Malaysia. – The Vibes, January 25, 2021