PETALING JAYA: Petaling Jaya MP, Maria Chin Abdullah has condemned the ongoing joint enforcement targeting undocumented migrants and refugees in the district this morning.
She said it was regrettable that authorities had chosen to round up migrants in PJ Old Town despite her speaking out against such move.
"I was getting ready to distribute food aid to PJ Old Town residents under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) when I noticed Immigration officers and trucks gathered at the area.
"I found out later that they were conducting raids to nab migrants in the EMCO area.
"It's sad that despite criticism from human rights groups on the Pudu and Masjid India raids, the government continues to use Covid-19 as an excuse to crack down on migrant communities, including young children of foreign workers," she said, labelling the act as prejudice and a discrimination.
She said this should not be happening during a time of crisis when the migrant workers were left stranded and unable to earn a living.
On May 10, the government imposed the EMCO along Jalan Othman, here after more than 20 wet market workers and residents tested positive for Covid-19.
Since, some 2,900 households have been screened for the infection and placed under strict restrictions, including not leaving their homes until May 23.
"Many of the migrants in the area work at the Jalan Othman Market and with petty traders in and around the district. Traders still need their assistance and getting rid of migrants will only hurt them economically," Chin said.
Instead of arresting the immigrants, she said the government should find ways to evaluate their status and reconsider registering them with proper documentation, so they can continue to work here.
She added that detaining migrants in the current circumstances during a pandemic will make Covid-19 tracing harder because they might not come forward for testing.
"Migrants played a key economic role here for many years and we should not simply be rounding and deporting them now without a clear policy.
"What will happen to the employment gaps they leave behind in our economy," she asked.
She said many undocumented migrants enter Malaysia legally but face significant hurdles in the process of renewing their work permits.
Chin said there must be an effort to repair the system and accountability and transparency in rehiring migrants.
"Simply removing migrants is not a solution and does not equal more employment opportunities for Malaysians".
Meanwhile, checks outside the EMCO area in PJ Old Town showed police and immigration personnel combing the secured area, door- to-door, for illegals.
It is learnt that almost 200 foreigners from Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Indonesia and India without proper travel and employment documents were detained in the 9am raid.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said those detained include migrants without or missing identification documents, overstaying, possessing false documents (pass/permit) and other offenses under the Immigration Act.
"They will be investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966 and the Immigration Regulations 1963," he said.
Those arrested have been taken back to the Immigration depots, where their welfare would be taken care of until they are deported to their country of origin.