KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian authorities on Monday detained hundreds of foreign workers in a major raid in areas around the Kuala Lumpur Wholesale Market, which has been under total lockdown due to a high coronavirus infection rate, local media reported.
On the flip side, there has been strong pushback from Malaysians fearful of the virus being carried by foreign workers who live in cramped, rented housing. The areas surrounding the market is under"enhanced MCO" - total lockdown - with unrolled barbed wire and armed soldiers, due to the high infection rate.
Most of those detained on Monday were believed to have worked in the sprawling market and surrounding shops. Meanwhile, 84 rights groups in a joint statement urged Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to address the hate speech against Rohingya refugees following the online campaign against the community which began shortly after the MCO began.