Effectively left with no legitimate rights in Malaysia, refugees are classified as undocumented or illegal immigrants here.
With the nation facing the third wave of Covid-19 infections, contact tracing efforts have been made difficult with the refugee community scared away from coming forward to be tested, for fear of being detained and thrown into immigration depots.
A Somalian refugee who only wanted to be known as Ridwan shared with FMT about how asylum seekers like her had feared going for tests, with hospital visits avoided as a whole.
“When they’re told to go to the hospital they say no because they’re afraid of being tested for Covid-19, even if it’s to seek treatment. They’re afraid because they’re refugees and migrants,” said the 24-year-old who has lived in Malaysia for the past three years after fleeing the unending civil war in her home country.
When the movement control order (MCO) was first imposed in March last year, the prospect of ill-treatment from the authorities kept away refugees like herself who did not get tested for Covid-19.
However, she found her views of Malaysian authorities changed after she tested positive early last month and was admitted to Sungai Buloh hospital.
“The situation was so different compared to what I had imagined. They treated me so well, I deeply appreciated it,” she said.
But not everyone gets to be as pleasantly surprised as Ridwan.
During the first MCO last year, authorities held a swoop operation to arrest hundreds of migrants, most of whom did not possess proper documents.
Various rights groups spoke out against the operation, warning that detention centres were known for its poor conditions while the migrant community would also be deterred from coming forward to be tested.
Lilianne Fan, director of Indonesian-based humanitarian group Geutanyoe Foundation, said there was no guarantee from authorities that refugees would not be detained after getting tested for Covid-19.
“If you can still remember the tabligh cluster, there were a number of migrants, including refugees, who were linked to that cluster. The government’s efforts to conduct contract tracing was made quite difficult because most of them don’t have legitimate documents on them,” she said.
She said the government could better manage refugees in the country without ratifying the convention simply by enacting a law that would give the community their human rights while outlining the responsibilities of all parties.
With this, she said refugees would be managed more efficiently, which would be a boon for the authorities too.
“There should be more efforts to reduce the burdens faced by this vulnerable group. Or else, they could pose a health risk to others,” she added.
Currently, refugees are given access to aid, health check-ups and education through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and various NGOs. Up to December last year, there were 178,450 refugees registered with the UNHCR, comprising mostly the Rohingya from Myanmar.
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