In a recent documentary on illegal migrants by media broadcasting company, Al Jazeera, it has been highlighted that the Malaysian government may be using the Covid-19 outbreak and the need for widespread medical testing as a disguise to lock up undocumented immigrants in Malaysia.
There are over two million documented migrant workers in Malaysia but an estimated 4 million are here illegally. Most often, these undocumented migrants are trafficked by agencies who look to exploit their labour for cheap wages.
The Al Jazeera video shows migrants, both documented and undocumented mistreated. Part of the video also showed footage of the Security and Defence Minister, Ismail Sabri having prior to this, promised not to arrest or lock them up later defaulting on his promise.
Migrants were put in handcuffs and held within close proximity, all failing to practice social distancing. The video further highlighted the inability of members of the public to enter migrant detention centres and speak with the detainees.
This paired with the new rule that only allowed state media to enter press briefings point to a government that has failed to uphold its promise of a government based on the Rule of Law.
Putrajaya has since hit back, asserting that migrants are “saved” through the governmental offering of Covid screenings, meals and shelter. A trade union representative further noted that the country cannot afford to house the different cultures of migrants with its different hygiene standards that may put Malaysians at risk. Furthermore, those of this view believe there will be more employment opportunities for low-income Malaysians as low skill jobs go vacant following the clampdown.
The effects of rounding up of migrants are clear in the rise of fear and distrust of the government. This has resulted in less screenings. Not only that, it will now take a longer time for the economy to recover from the Covid-19 outbreak. This is because migrant jobs are incredibly labour intensive resulting in a lag to find adequate labour locally.
Minister of Home Affairs, Hamzah Zainuddin, in solidarity with Ismail Sabri, the Security and Defence Minister says that Malaysians agree with the government’s policies on illegal immigrants. However, this has not gone over well on social media with many users in contradiction. Many Twitter users have tweeted along the lines of “I’m a Malaysian and I disagree.”, under the hashtag #MigranJugaManusia expressing their disagreement.
Others take a more nuanced view believing that legal migrants are welcome to enter but undocumented workers should not be allowed to enter the country. Many believe undocumented workers contribute to the rise in crime and the lack of transparency in documentation makes it difficult for maintenance of law and order.
Malaysians of this view find their voices have come together forming a petition “DEMANDING AN APOLOGY FROM AL JAZEERA” on Change.org which calls for Al Jazeera to retract the video which was quoted in the petition to be unfair and biased against the Malaysian government and frontliners.
As a result of the backlash from the video and the support it has received from certain Malaysians, the government has taken a more punitive approach towards critics. This is seen in the Bukit Aman’s investigation into Al Jazeera for its attempt at “tarnishing Malaysia’s image”. That being said, it is not only media outlets that are being prosecuted. Foreigners holding permanent residence visa, temporary employment visas may also be held for speaking out against the supposed human rights violations.
