KUALA LUMPUR: Before the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced, over 200,000 refugees in Malaysia were already leading a grim life, having to escape death and leaving their countries in hopes of a new beginning.
Since Malaysia is not a party to the United Nations Refugee Convention, the refugees are not allowed to work here legally.
As such, they have to resort to doing odd jobs, which leaves them leading a hand-to-mouth existence.
However, the implementation of the MCO has made life even harder for the refugee community in Malaysia, as jobs have dried up, leaving them with zero source of income.
BARELY SURVIVING
Rohingya refugee Muhammad Ilyas Shobi Rahmat, 32, is currently unemployed and has nine people living with him in a two-bedroom house that costs him RM800 in rent monthly.
His wife and four children live in the house along with his brother, uncle and two nephews. They are all unemployed too.
The adults barely have enough to eat and a baby is running out of formula.
Ilyas and his family said they felt like they were being “handcuffed” and that they were running out of options.
Ilyas said they were lucky to have received a 10kg pack of rice, some oil and sugar last week from various donors through the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia (MERHROM).
That will fill our bellies for a while,” he said when met at his house at Kampung Padang Balang, Sentul, here on Tuesday.
Having only rice and mustard leaf (sawi) to eat for the past two weeks, Ilyas said the lack of food in the house was actually not their main concern.
“The government says we must stay at home during the MCO, but we don’t have money to pay rent. Where will we go if our landlord kicks us out?
“The owner has already told us to leave the house if we can’t pay the rent by the end of this month and the problem is, we don’t have a way of making money right now.”
His neighbour Mohamad Rafiq Alimya, 54, who is an imam at a nearby surau for the Rohingya community, is facing the same dilemma.
Rafiq has four family members to care for, including his infant grandchild, but now that all religious activities in mosques and surau have been suspended, his allowance as the imam has stopped too.
“I am worried every day thinking about putting food on the table.
“My family needs shelter, my house rent is RM600 and I am running out of money to buy food, let alone to pay the rent.
“I hope somebody will help us. Please,” he said.
Another Rohingya refugee, Mohamad Ershad Abu Kalam, 28, said he had not left his house since the implementation of the MCO and that he would not do so until it was safe to go out.
“I don’t have money to pay rent or buy more food.
“So, I cannot get sick because the medicine is too expensive. Besides, I have a 5-month-old baby and my wife is pregnant.
“They are the priority now and I must not get sick.”
‘STRUGGLING EACH DAY’
In Malaysia, refugees must pay the foreigners’ rate at hospitals. While those with UNHCR status receive a 50 per cent discount, the undocumented must pay the full amount.
The majority of refugees usually find themselves in overcrowded living conditions, either in refugee camps or urban areas, with limited access to healthcare and sanitation systems.
In the current situation, the Covid-19 virus can easily spread in a short time, especially among refugees who are already suffering from underlying health conditions due to the lack of nutrition, which makes them vulnerable to the virus.
MERHROM president Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani said he was worried about the fate of the Rohingya community throughout Malaysia as they were trapped in a dangerous situation.
“We have representatives in all states in Malaysia, but with the MCO, we can’t leave our houses to send aid if they live too far away.
“I have been asking for permission from the authorities to let me travel around the Klang Valley just to distribute the donations given to me, but I haven’t received an answer yet.”
Currently, Zafar said MERHROM representatives nationwide were sending aid not only to the Rohingya but also to other refugees as well as poor Malaysians. However, he said MERHROM was running out of money and items to donate.
“MERHROM is unable to have its own bank account.
“This is because I am not a Malaysian and the Registrar of Societies ) cannot register us as a legal organisation in Malaysia.
“Because of that, donors sometimes go silent on us because we only have personal bank accounts under the names of our Malaysian friends. Donors usually don’t like the idea of sending money to a personal bank account.
“We are in a dilemma and we are struggling each day to find ways to help our community.
“It was hard leaving Myanmar then and— life is still difficult now, unfortunately,” he said.