Rights groups: Stop crackdown, ensure refugees have access to livelihood instead
Two refugee rights groups have urged Putrajaya to halt the arrest and detention of refugees and migrants amidst Covid-19 outbreaks in several immigration detention centres.
Rather than arrest them, Fortify Rights and the Rohingya Women Development Network (RWDN) said refugees and migrants ought to be allowed to work and provide for themselves.
Two refugee rights groups have urged Putrajaya to halt the arrest and detention of refugees and migrants amidst Covid-19 outbreaks in several immigration detention centres.
Rather than arrest them, Fortify Rights and the Rohingya Women Development Network (RWDN) said refugees and migrants ought to be allowed to work and provide for themselves.
“The government of Malaysia should end arbitrary arrests and detention of refugees and migrants [...]
"Despite the heightened risk of Covid-19 transmissions in detention facilities - both to detainees and staff members - Malaysian authorities continue to arrest and detain refugees and migrants," they said.
“During the recovery period from the pandemic, the government of Malaysia should ensure refugees and migrants are provided with tailored protections to address their specific needs, including access to food and the ability to pay for accommodation,” they added.
In interviews with 13 Rohingya refugees, the NGOs heard from interviewees who were out of a job, struggling to pay rent, being assaulted by landlords, going to bed hungry, and concerned about running out of food and being kicked out from their homes.
Malaysia does not recognise refugees despite being home to some 177,800 registered refugees and asylum seekers.
Refugees do have the right to work but are typically employed illegally and paid a daily wage.
Fortify Rights and RWDN urged the government to ratify the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention to accord legal status to refugees.
“Malaysia should ensure all refugees have legal status and access to basic support mechanisms. This is about public health as well as human rights,” added Fortify Rights executive director Amy Smith.
The Immigration Department began conducting raids on undocumented migrants on May 1 in areas that were then placed under enhanced movement control order (MCO).
On May 21, a new Covid-19 cluster was detected at the Bukit Jalil immigration detention centre where those arrested during the raids were detained. Outbreaks have since been detected at four other detention centres - Semenyih, Sepang, Putrajaya and Tawau.
Several UN Human Rights experts previously urged Putrajaya to stop the crackdown and “hate campaign” against migrants, warning that this would undermine efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
On June 12, a Covid-19 patient detained at the Bukit Jalil centre was found dead. The cause of death of the Indian national - whose family claims was a stranded tourist - remains under investigation.
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