As migrants still nabbed by authorities, MOH says its only role is testing, treating them for Covid-19

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) has refused to wade into how unethical it is for Putrajaya to detain undocumented migrants after identifying them in enhanced movement control order (EMCO) areas.

Its director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry’s task is only to screen and treat the foreigners if they are infected, even as the procedure allegedly goes against its own recommendations for the community to not worry about its status here.

“For undocumented migrants the MOH screens them first. We screen them to make sure that they are not Covid-19 positive. We then quarantine them for two weeks in the EMCO areas and screen them again after that.

“If they are tested negative, we know that they are not infected. Anything else, we leave it for the National Security Council to take action,” said Dr Noor Hisham.

Yesterday, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob told a press conference that the government will place all undocumented migrants identified in areas under an EMCO at immigration detention centres after the order is lifted.

He said they may also be sent to the 11 special prisons gazetted by the Ministry of Home Affairs if the need arises.

However, on March 22 Ismail Sabri had sung a different tune, when he gave assurances that illegal migrants should not be worried about their status as the government has agreed not to make it an issue but would instead focus on curbing the pandemic.

In a televised conference on Sunday, the senior minister said he had discussed the matter with the Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador.

He had made the call after the government found out that thousands of individuals who had attended a mass tabligh gathering at Seri Petaling Mosque had not turned up for Covid-19 screening.

Illegal migrants in the country were thought to fear seeking treatment due to their legal status in the country.

Ismail Sabri back then had assured them that Putrajaya was only concerned about their health and that of their family members.