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KUALA LUMPUR: Senior Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob says that migrant workers from Bangladesh are still not allowed to enter Malaysia as the country’s immigration policy remains in place, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This follows reports that some 25,000 migrant workers had returned to Bangladesh during the holidays but were unable to return due to the government’s policy of banning foreigners from countries with high numbers of cases.
“Bangladesh remains one of 23 countries classified as high risk for the virus. Although many (Bangladeshi workers) want to return, to this day, no permission has been granted, ”Ismail said at a press conference today.
“Our policy of closing our borders to foreigners is still in place. We will not allow foreign workers to enter unless they have permission from the Immigration Department. “
However, he said Malaysia will not stand in the way of holding discussions on the issue with its counterparts in Bangladesh.
The Bangladeshi government had contacted the Malaysian high commission in Dhaka in an attempt to solve the problem of thousands of migrant workers stranded at home due to the pandemic.
Several of the workers held a demonstration in Dhaka on Monday to ask their government to intervene so they could return to Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Ismail announced that an area in Penang will be placed under the conditional movement control order (CMCO) from November 6 to 19.
Mukim 12 in the Barat Daya state district will be under CMCO for two weeks starting Friday, following an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases there.
“The SOPs will be similar to those that have been applied in other states and localities under CMCO,” he said.
It also announced that the Enhanced MCO (EMCO) at Taman Harmoni PPR in Sandakan, Sabah, will end tomorrow as scheduled.
On the enforcement action against those who violated the ongoing recovery MCO (RMCO), Ismail said that 382 people were arrested yesterday by the police, of which 364 were fined and 18 in preventive detention.
Most of them were sanctioned for not registering customers’ personal data when entering stores (66), not wearing a mask (136), not practicing physical distancing (58) and participating in activities in entertainment centers (42 ).
Authorities also detained 16 undocumented immigrants and seven smugglers yesterday as part of the ongoing Ops Benteng campaign, where they also seized 10 vehicles.
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