No undocumented migrants have volunteered for Covid-19 test yet - minister

CORONAVIRUS | Undocumented migrants in the country have yet to take the opportunity provided by the government for them to get checked for Covid-19.

According to Senior Minister (security cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob, none of them have come forward to assist the Health Ministry's effort to detect positive cases among the community, despite government assurance that no action will be taken against them over their status.

"They did not come forward even after the government announced (no action)," he told Malaysiakini.

Ismail was responding to a question over his announcement two days ago, that all undocumented migrants identified at areas under the enhanced movement control order (MCO) would be detained and handed over to the Immigration Department.

He was asked on whether the latest decision would push away other undocumented migrants in the country from cooperating with authorities in efforts to break the chain of Covid-19 infections in the country.

Last month, Ismail had told a press conference that foreigners especially those who attended the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering in Kuala Lumpur are urged to present themselves for Covid-19 screening.

He said the foreigners, including those who are in the country without valid travel documents, can come forward without fear and assured that authorities would not look at their immigration status when doing so.

The assurance was given when authorities were still scrambling to identify and trace all participants of the gathering, which they estimated to have been attended by some 16,000 people including 1,500 foreign nationals.

To date, the gathering remains the biggest cluster of infections in the country with some 36 percent of positive cases linked to it.

Yesterday, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, when asked about this, said that the Health Ministry's focus is to detect positive cases, and would leave the decision of any legal action to the National Security Council to decide. - Mkini

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