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As of 9th June 2020, there are 8,336 confirmed cases, with 14.9% undergoing treatment, 83.7% recovered, and 1.4% deaths. In order to protect the public, the Malaysian government has taken steps to contain the spread of the virus. 

Malaysia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention but permits the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to register refugees. Being registered with the UNHCR provides a form of identification that could allow limited access to essential services, but it has no legal value in Malaysia. Although Malaysia has not ratified the Refugee Convention, it is a State Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Despite some reservations, Malaysia still has a duty to “ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child” (Article 6(2)) and “shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services” (Article 24). Unfortunately, it appears that the pandemic has suspended such commitments.

The UN Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights commented that Malaysia keeps refugees in extremely precarious conditions that all but guarantee they will fall into poverty. Although the UNHCR registers refugees, that does not give them legal status in the country. Hence, they are unable to work, travel, or enrol in government schools. The lack of institutional support means that they have to seek informal work and schooling. Consequently, this segment of the population is left vulnerable. 

UNHCR reports that they have registered 179,520 refugees and asylum seekers. Out of that number, 46,740 are children under the age of 18. These figures do not account for the people that are still unregistered. 

UNHCR has been denied access to Malaysia’s detention centres since August 2019, making it impossible to help these individuals and children. The COVID-19 crisis further perpetuated the problem. While the country was under lockdown, Malaysian authorities began arresting and detaining 2,000 undocumented migrants, refugees and children, forcing them into cramped overcrowded detention centres. 

Inevitably, the virus spread rapidly, with the current number of infections at 410 individuals across four detention centres. Officials were warned of the risk of infection by Doctors without Borders. Evidently, Malaysian officials detained migrants and refugees knowing that infection was more than likely. The government cannot continue to detain migrants and refugees under the guise of controlling the spread of the virus. Prior to COVID-19 landing on our shores, public healthcare experts had proposed extending basic healthcare to non-citizens to protect overall public health. Public health and safety of our most vulnerable residents means public health and safety for all.   

Having to battle a health crisis on one side, refugees are hard pressed on the other with the rise of Xenophobia. Xenophobia is rampant in Malaysia, in part due to xenophobic comments made by government officials. Many civil society groups have called upon the government to change the tide of government policies on refugees and foreign workers. Most recently, 84 organisations undersigned a letter to Prime Minister Muhiyiddin asking him to speak out against the proliferation of ‘hate speech’ and violent threats against the Rohingya community. 

Most recently, on 8th June 2020, a boat with 268 Rohingya refugees and 1 deceased body were intercepted off the coast of Langkawi. What will happen to these people? The same day the Myanmar Embassy stated that the Malaysian government has offered to charter flights for the deportation of more than 3,000 people back to Myanmar. If this happens, the Malaysian government is then complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.