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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian authorities detained hundreds of foreign workers on Monday (May 11) in a major raid in areas around the Kuala Lumpur wholesale market, which has been under total blockade due to a high rate of coronavirus infection, local media reported.
This is the second major foray into a foreign worker enclave by the Malaysian authorities amid the Movement Control Order (MCO).
The first raid around Jalan Masjid India earlier this month sparked complaints from labor activists that arresting foreigners will scare many others into hiding, when they should be encouraged to come forward for a screening test for the viruses without fear of arrest and deportation.
On the other hand, there has been strong rejection by Malaysians fearful that the virus will be carried by foreign workers living in narrow, rented houses.
Malaysia has some 2.2 million registered foreign workers and an estimated three million more undocumented workers.
Members of the media who were present were banned from approaching the wholesale market, the largest in Malaysia with its vast series of seafood and vegetables. They were prevented from taking photos and videos of the operations, New Straits Times reported on its website.
The areas surrounding the market are under “Enhanced OLS” – total blockade – with unwound barbed wire and armed soldiers, due to the high infection rate.
Blocking an area allows the Ministry of Health to carry out massive tests and for the area to be disinfected, with food and essential items brought in daily by the Department of Welfare. But the blockade also prevented foreign immigrants from escaping if they wanted to.
The surprise raid began after 6 a.m. with immigration department officials and their staff surrounding Malaysia’s largest wet wholesale market and bringing together citizens of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Nepal, NST said.
A helicopter flew over the market during the raid.
This was an operation of the Immigration Department. Police and several other agencies provided security assistance, “Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Mazlan Lazim told reporters in a WhatsApp message, quoted by Malaysiakini news site.
Most of those detained on Monday are believed to have worked in the sprawling market and in nearby stores.
At least three trucks were seen leaving the area around 10:30 a.m. under police escort, The Star reported.
Defense Minister Ismail Sabri, who is also the chief minister overseeing the MCO, had previously defended raids on enclaves of foreign workers, saying they will be placed in immigration warehouses.
The upgraded MCO in the KL wholesale market is slated to end on Wednesday (May 13).
On Sunday (May 10), another area with many foreign workers was placed in an upgraded MCO: the great Jalan Othman Market in the city of Old Petaling Jaya.
Meanwhile, 84 human rights groups in a joint statement urged Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to address the hate speech against Rohingya refugees following the online campaign against the community that began shortly after the MCO began.
“Your leadership in addressing hate speech and threats directed at the Rohingya is essential to prevent violence, discrimination and other human rights abuses,” the statement said.
“We urge you and your government to speak out in support of Rohingya rights. We ask that you and your government challenge false or discriminatory narratives and highlight your government’s commitment to defending your human rights.
Once embraced by Malaysian Muslims as fellow Muslim Muslims in Myanmar, there are now local calls for the Rohingya to be deported, as foreigners are sometimes blamed for the pandemic and the elimination of local jobs amid heavy loss of jobs in Malaysia.
The statement was issued by, among others, Amnesty International Malaysia, the Rohingya European Council, Human Rights Watch and the Malaysian groups Suaram and the Islamic Renaissance Front.
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