How Will Mass Raids Help Achieve Herd Immunity Hamzah Asked Again

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Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin continues to come under fire for potentially jeopardising the government’s herd immunity goal with his plan to arrest undocumented migrants.
The latest criticism came from Petaling Jaya lawmaker Maria Chin Abdullah and legal advocacy group Lawyers For Liberty.
In a statement today, Chin (above) opined that the government should focus on vaccinating migrants against Covid-19 and not arrest them.
“The present authoritarian tactic used will only force the undocumented workers to go deeper into hiding and no amount of coaxing and reporting will bring them out.
“So how can we achieve herd immunity if these three to four million persons are not vaccinated?” she questioned.
Chin thus urged Putrajaya to change course and encourage migrants to get tested and vaccinated without fear of arrest.
“Hamzah’s authoritarian approach has to end and cabinet ministers must now step in immediately to give a 100 percent assurance that vaccination will be provided to all migrants and refugees regardless of their status so that in the long run, we save the lives of all,” she stressed.
In detention vaccinations?
Hamzah has repeatedly defended his plan to detain undocumented migrants during the 14-day lockdown period.
According to the minister, the migrants can be vaccinated in detention.
He had expressed doubt that undocumented foreigners would voluntarily come forward for vaccination in the first place and stressed that the raids were being done “for the good of the people”.
But even if they were vaccinated while incarcerated, Lawyers for Liberty coordinator Zaid Malek warned that mass arrests could lead to Covid-19 infection clusters.


“It is an indisputable fact that many undocumented migrants are victims of unscrupulous employers.
“They should not be treated as criminals and be detained at detention centres that run the risk of overcrowding and potentially expose them to Covid-19 infections,” he said in a separate statement.

Lawyers for Liberty coordinator Zaid Malek
Like Chin, Zaid urged Putrajaya to scrap the raids.
“Thus, we strongly urge the government to rethink its decision to conduct this mass operation against undocumented migrants.
“Penal action is not the panacea to the pandemic and it could instead negatively impact Malaysia’s fight against Covid-19,” he said.
The immigration arrests risk compromising an earlier plan by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin for the government to work with NGOs to coax refugees and migrants - documented or otherwise - to get vaccinated.
Khairy had even assured those who came forward to be inoculated would not be arrested.
This was so herd immunity could be achieved.
Khairy and Hamzah have reportedly met over this issue.
According to the latter, he insisted that his ministry would “assist” those detained to get work documents if they have an employer. - Mkini

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