Page 190 - MALAYSIA HEALTH SECTOR RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD

9.4 Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants – A Time Bomb Waiting to
Explode

The Director-General of Health has frequently highlighted, “COVID-19
knows no boundaries and does not discriminate in terms of ethnicity and
social status. Negative sentiments against detainees must not be amplified.
They must not be a catalyst for discrimination in saving lives” . COVID-19
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does not discriminate on the basis of migrant status, neither should the
measures to lessen the impact. Like any other Malaysian citizens, foreign
workers and illegal immigrants experience the same health risk from a
virus that knows no boundaries of citizenship status, race, religion, or
culture. Nevertheless, the complexity of poverty, language barriers, limited
access to healthcare, administrative obstacles, and fear of legal
repercussions among the migrant community, reveals the risk these gaps in
access and services give rise to, not only to these vulnerable communities,
but also to the wider general population.

Migrants are a part of the Malaysian society, conferring towards
strengthening the Malaysian economy and also in the frontline as cleaners,
security guards, waiters, domestic helpers, neighbours, nannies, and
caretakers of the elderly and friends. The MOH Malaysia upholds its
responsibility in testing and ensuring, whether documented, undocumented,
or citizens, whether in detention centres or walking free, they are free from
the COVID-19 infection. Living a shared adversity, only with an inclusive
approach, truly leaving no one behind, will we be able to curb this global
crisis of unparalleled dimensions. One of the legacies the COVID-19 has
evidenced is that our system is as strong as our weakest link, and we are
only as healthy as the most vulnerable members among us. Their illness is
ours, and hence, our recovery must be theirs as well. As it has often been
said, the COVID-19 pandemic is a “humanitarian crisis with a public health
dimension”.

The presence of migrants in Malaysia is like a time bomb waiting to explode,
especially in pandemics. Such worry has been proven with the emergence
of COVID-19 clusters involving this population, for instance, in immigration
detention centres, prisons, and a few economic sectors such as construction
and manufacturing sectors, particularly in the third COVID-19 wave. The
fear of arrest, detention, and extradition might have compelled the
migrant population to go further into hiding and prevented them
from seeking treatment, with negative ramifications on their own health as
well as prompting risks to the spreading of COVID-19 to

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154 CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNT