PUTRAJAYA: Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pix) today refuted the claim that the government was cruel for carrying out mass operations to weed out illegal immigrants in the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) area.
He said the illegal immigrants were still wrong for trespassing and the laws regarding them had not changed.
“The illegal immigrants were undergoing mandatory quarantine inside the EMCO area (Masjid India). We conducted Covid-19 tests and the results were negative.
“Those who are dissatisfied should thank the government because they have been screened and declared clean.
“Imagine if they go back home and spread the virus to their family members. Saying we are acting cruelly is incorrect because during the EMCO, they received the same food as our people,” he told a daily press conference on the Movement Control Order (MCO) here.
Yesterday, a number of non-governmental organisations including Tenaganita slammed the authorities for conducting the raids at several locations in the federal capital including Plaza City One, Malayan Mansion and areas around Masjid India.
Ismail Sabri said 3,352 individuals were checked while 586 were arrested for immigration offences and taken to the detention depot for further action.
“The government has never neglected their welfare in terms of food and health during the EMCO period and at the detention depot,“ he said. — Bernama
