Note:
a) This article deals with Sarawak State - not the whole of Malaysia. The statistics is not clear as to whether these figures are based on documented or undocumented migrant workers?
b) Important to note that out of the 150,000 migrant workers, only 15,000 are documented. Hence, there would be a basis for saying that this may also be the case for Malaysia as a whole.
a) This article deals with Sarawak State - not the whole of Malaysia. The statistics is not clear as to whether these figures are based on documented or undocumented migrant workers?
b) Important to note that out of the 150,000 migrant workers, only 15,000 are documented. Hence, there would be a basis for saying that this may also be the case for Malaysia as a whole.
Illegals likely cause of TB spike
by Lian Cheng, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on October 31, 2013, Thursday
Workers entering state illegally without checkup, pose danger to health of people in Sarawak
KUCHING:
Foreign workers working in the country legally are not likely to be the
cause of the rise of tuberculosis cases in the country.
This is
because foreigners with contagious diseases are prohibited from entering
the country including students applying for student visas.
Responding
to the recent claim of Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam that
foreign workers made up 12 to 13 per cent of the 20,000 reported TB
patients in 2011, State Immigration Director Datuk Robert Lian believed
that these workers were those who entered the country illegally.
Speaking
to The Borneo Post recently, he pointed out that under Section 8 of
Immigration Act 1959/63, “any person suffering from mental disorder or
suffering from a contagious disease which makes his presence in Malaysia
dangerous to the community” will be classified as “prohibited persons”
and will be barred from entering the country.
And anyone who
“refuses to submit to a medical examination after being required to do
so by an Immigration Officer” will also be considered a “prohibited
person” he added.
Robert stressed that the state’s Immigration Department had always adhered to the Act before issuing foreigners work permits.
“The
illegal workers do not have to go through the due process of medical
checkup to determine their health condition. Maybe some foreign illegal
workers are carrying contagious diseases we are not sure because their
employers refuse to bring them to us.”
Presently, there is about 150,000 legal foreign workers and an estimated 15,000 illegal workers the state.
Robert
said employers who recruited workers illegally should realise that they
were jeopardising the health of their fellow citizens including their
own family members.
The director added that it was especially
dangerous to employ maids illegally as many of them had to cook and look
after the babies for the family employing them.
“These maids will
be staying in close proximity with the family engaging them and we have
to make sure that these maids are not carrying any contagious
diseases,” said Robert.
He admitted that there were some cases
where the first screening of foreign workers might not show that they
were unfit to work here but once they were found to carry contagious
diseases they would be sent home after being given medication for their
sicknesses.
The state’s Health director Datuk Dr Zulkifli Jantan
recently revealed that there were 2,000 TB cases reported in 2010, and
2,055 in 2011. In 2012, there was an increase of about 400 cases to
2,430 and there has been an average increase of 0.8 per cent of TB cases
every year.
Sarawak is currently ranked only behind Sabah and Selangor in the number of TB cases. - Borneo Post, 31/10/2013, Illegals likely cause of TB spike
