Editor's note: The story has been corrected to reflect Tenaganita's statement. Any error is regretted.

Human rights group Tenaganita has accused Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob of using undocumented workers to justify the state of emergency.

"The call by Ismail for the military to arrest undocumented workers reiterates how broken Malaysia's immigration system is today and how the state continues to play a role in demonising and weaponising undocumented workers while scapegoating them, in a pathetically lame attempt to justify the emergency," said Tenaganita executive director Glorene A Das.

On Thursday, Ismail said that the emergency...