Govt has right to arrest illegal immigrants during pandemic: Malaysia’s minister

PUTRAJAYA, May 3, 2020, NST. The government has a right to take action against immigrants living illegally in the country without valid documents, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, New Straits Times reported.

Ismail Sabri, who is the Senior Minister (Security Cluster), said the government cannot simply allow illegal immigrants to roam freely even if they had previously completed their Covid-19 quarantine in areas placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO).

“Just imagine where will they (illegal immigrants) go once the EMCO ends?,” said the minister in his daily press briefing.

The minister was asked to respond to criticism by several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) over the arrests of illegal immigrants in the city during the pandemic.

Malaysia, said Ismail Sabri, is a sovereign country that has its own sets of laws to protect the nation and ensure the wellbeing of the people.

“Should we follow the views of Amnesty International and Suhakam and allow anyone without valid travel documents to the enter the country?

“The government had announced previously that we will tighten security along the country’s borders (as one of the measures to prevent imported cases of Covid-19) including areas considered as ‘lorong tikus’ (illegal routes),” he said.

He said the Immigration Department would ensure social distancing is exercised to prevent the spread of the virus if the illegal immigrants are arrested and placed in detention.

“That was when concerns were raised over issues related to congestion in our prisons, and the government gazetted 11 temporary prisons for those who violated the Movement Control Order.

“The same applies to (detention) depots,” he said.

On other matters, Ismail Sabri said as of May 2, a total of 23,680 people have been arrested for offences related to the violation of the MCO since the directive came into force on March 18.