You Won T Be Arrested Sabah Minister Assures Foreigners Seeking Jabs

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Sabah community development and people’s well-being minister Shahelmey Yahya said foreigners were part of the state’s workforce and needed to be vaccinated to protect the health of citizens.KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah minister has again reassured foreigners in the state, including those possessing dubious documents, that they will not be detained when they go out to get their Covid-19 vaccine shots.
This reassurance comes after a local news report quoted Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) secretary-general Hishamuddin Hashim as claiming that two Indonesians were arrested by police while returning home from a vaccination centre (PPV) in Penampang on Monday.
State community development and people’s well-being minister Shahelmey Yahya said he was not aware of the allegations and as such could not comment.
But Shahelmey, who is also the state’s immunisation programme operations director, reiterated that non-citizens will not be hauled in for coming out to get their vaccines at the various PPVs statewide.
“In fact, I issued a press release today giving the reassurance after a fake message claiming non-citizens will be arrested if they go to these PPVs went viral,” he told FMT.
He said that because of this fake message, the number of people, particularly foreigners, visiting the PPVs in the Sabah east coast districts had dropped over the past several days.
“That is why I issued the statement to non-citizens that it is safe for them to come out as they won’t be harassed,” he said.
Shahelmey said there had been previous instances where foreigners had used the identity cards belonging to locals when coming to get the jabs.
“This was when the state had yet to allow walk-in vaccinations for foreigners.
“We realise that foreigners are part of the workforce in the various economic sectors in Sabah.
“So they must be vaccinated in order to reduce the risk of infecting our citizens,” he said.
The Daily Express reported that MHO had lodged a police report yesterday over the alleged arrest of the two foreigners after their visit to a PPV.
Sabah police chief Idris Abdullah confirmed receiving the report, adding police were investigating the case under Section 385 of the Penal Code for extortion.
The daily quoted Hishamuddin as saying that the Indonesian couple, found to have expired passports, was detained by Penampang police after getting their second dose at a PPV in the district.
He said the couple, who has since been released, had been left traumatised by the episode as they were arrested despite previous announcements by the state and federal governments assuring them of safe passage.
In a statement today, the MHO welcomed the swift response from the police in launching an immediate probe into the matter. - FMT

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