With the sudden surge of Covid-19 cases in May 2020 amongst detainees at immigration detention centres, the Director General of Ministry of Health (“MOH”) advised that the living conditions of foreign workers need to be improved.¹ MOH in a press statement on 26 May 2020 has also commented that the major contributing factors for Covid-19 infection transmission amongst foreign workers are cramped housing facilities, unsatisfactory practices of personal hygiene and unsanitary environment.
 
The Ministry of Human Resources has announced that the Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities (Amendment) Act (‘the Amendment Act’) will take effect on 1 June 2020 in Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan. Three months’ grace period until 31 August 2020 will be given to employers to make necessary arrangements. Thus, the enforcement of the Amendment Act will begin on 1 September 2020.²

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