FORMER Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak defended his suggestion to deport migrant workers who refuse to get vaccinated, saying public health precedes other concerns.
“There is an activist who was unhappy with my suggestion to give migrant workers four-months amnesty to get vaccinated and if they fail to comply, they should get deported.
“I also suggested for employers who are adamant to employ unvaccinated migrant workers to be slapped with mandatory jail time.
“But the activist accused me of victimising migrant workers,” he said in a Facebook post.
Earlier today, Free Malaysia Today reported Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das slamming Najib for suggesting to deport unvaccinated migrant workers.
She said the Government should focus on cleaning up the immigration system instead to better manage foreign labour. The activist also poured scorn at Najib for doing nothing to help migrant workers when the latter was in power.
It is note that while the Health Ministry (MOH) had announced vaccination for migrant workers, documented and undocumented, the Immigration Department’s hard-line approach of cracking down on those undocumented had deterred most of them from getting inoculated.
To date, it is not known whether the Government had resolved differences between both approaches since the start of the pandemic, with many criticising the Home Ministry for refusing to budge on its decision despite the unprecedented circumstances.
Touching on the matter, Najib said that COVID-19 infects everyone regardless of nationalities and he made the suggestion to protect everyone from the coronavirus.
“In fact, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) found my suggestion reasonable as employers are legally bound to ensure the safety of their workers.
“Based on our laws, the Government also has the authority to compel our migrant workers to get double shots of the vaccine,” the Pekan MP remarked. – Sept 18, 2021
