By Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj
The COVID-19 figures for the past 24 hours are frightening. We recorded 1,884 cases nationally with 1,203 in Selangor alone!
The COVID-19 vaccine results are much better than people had dared to hope, but it is going to take six months or more to vaccinate enough people in Malaysia to achieve herd immunity.
For the time being we have to rely on masks, identifying cases, isolating them and their close contacts, as well as imposing movement control measures.
But what if we have a group of people who cannot afford to come forward for testing or for quarantine? And this is the plight of our illegal migrant workers.
There are estimated between three million to four million migrant workers (PATI) in Malaysia. If they come to our healthcare clinics, they face the risk of being detained and packed into over-crowded prisons or immigration camps.
Not only will they lose their source of income and face the possibility of being deported, they will also be at a greater risk of contracting COVID-19 in our crowded detention centres.
So, it is certainly not in their best interest to come forward and cooperate with our health authorities. Why should they? After all, being adults, their risk of dying from COVID-19 is relatively low.
But if we are unable to test and isolate those who are infected, COVID-19 is going to keep spreading in their community and from there, to Malaysians as we share the same space.
Malaysia’s RoT (rate of transmission) is not going to dip below 1.0 and we will be forced to prolong the debilitating partial lockdowns until at least the middle of next year.
Little compassion offers win-win situation
However, there is an easier path to address the situation but it requires Malaysian authorities to change their coercive and punitive stance towards PATI.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Parti Sosialis Malaysia and several other groups have been suggesting three measures to address the situation.
First, a moratorium on immigration offenses for the next one year. No PATI will be arrested and detained because he or she does not have a passport or his/her permit has expired.
Second, offer subsidised treatment at government health facilities for all migrant workers.
Thirdly, provide alternative accommodation for the close contacts of diagnosed COVID-19 cases so that the chain of transmission can be broken. Meals should also be provided to those who are required to quarantine.
These three measures, if implemented strictly, would make it possible for us to win the confidence and cooperation of migrant workers, thus giving us a chance of bringing down RoT to below 1.0 and opening up our economy.
But will the National Security Council and the Home Affairs Ministry overcome their authoritarian tendencies and implement the three measures above?
If they can’t, then rest assured that we are going to be caught in a prolonged partial lockdown that will cause significant economic distress to many. –Nov 24, 2020.
Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj is the chairperson of Parti Sosialis Malaysia and former MP of Sungai Siput.
