A round of crackdowns on undocumented migrants initiated in Malaysia last week raised fears that the government would renege on its promise to vaccinate them - without arrest - as part of its national vaccination programme.

Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said late last month that raids on illegal migrants would be part of enforcement action during Malaysia's ongoing total lockdown to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. This seemed to run contrary to the no-arrest pledge earlier made by Malaysia's coordinating minister for immunisation Khairy Jamaluddin.