THE Covid-19 pandemic impacts Malaysia in many ways. But the country's biggest was the Rohingya crisis.
The rampant arrival of boats carrying hundreds of Rohingya each time caused huge resentment in the population.
The xenophobia can be observed by understanding key issues during the peak of the pandemic.
Firstly, daily news of increasing death and infection rates heightened insecurity, particularly due to the prevalence of cases from abroad.
Anxiety increased due to more than 1,000 'positive' cases from the mass gathering in the Seri Petaling district, which had links to the Selayang wholesale market where the Rohingya community is known to work.
This place was declared an "extension" of the largest reported cluster developed from the mass gathering two months back, which 2,000 Rohingya community members attended. They were difficult to track and the refusal to cooperate with the authorities suggested that they did not have proper documentation.
Secondly, illegal immigrants holding the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card are prevalent in this community.
Another act that angered the public was an offensive Facebook video by some members of the community.
The biggest issue was an unregistered Rohingya community leader who made demands for rights amid the pandemic, which became the turning point of netizen complaints.
This demonstrates how the pandemic can be exploited and lead to national instability.
Thirdly, the limited medical supplies in the country led to controversy over the treatment of illegal immigrants and citizens.
The government channelled hundreds of millions of ringgit to many hospitals, but this was insufficient. Prioritisation ought to take place.
In addition, there were complaints about illegal immigrants congesting transit centres. Treating infected patients with insufficient resources is inefficient, and therefore inhumane.
Moreover, it is not strategic for a developing country like ours to deal with a situation where it has to withdraw funds from other sources.
Economic problems also struck hard. People struggled to keep jobs and pay mortgages.
The government's Prihatin Economic Stimulus Packages are a relief, but also demonstrate the impact of the pandemic on the economy.
Under these circumstances, the government attempted to close the borders to illegal immigrants. Nevertheless, Malaysia was pushed to a situation fraught with emotional and social pressure when humanitarian groups and non-governmental organisations criticised it for using Covid-19 to justify stopping humanitarian assistance.
One should remember that Malaysia did not sign the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Illegal Immigrants, which classified Rohingya community members as "illegal immigrants".
But statistics show that Malaysia's participation in the UNHCR started in 1975 and a majority of UNHCR card-holders are Rohingya.
The government spent millions on the Malaysian Field Hospital in Cox's Bazar prior to the pandemic, but it took only one incident to tarnish Malaysia's humanitarian efforts.
Domestic problems remain the primary focus of a country. The state is responsible for protecting its citizens from threats such as pandemics, which do not understand and respect national sovereignty and borders. Therefore, the Rohingya crisis is secondary to Malaysia's interests.
It is high time Malaysia took the Rohingya plight to the regional level for a solution.
The pandemic will most likely have a stronger impact on Asean in regard to the Rohingya crisis because the public are now more aware of the situation.
It is important to remember that while Asean is careful not to rock the boat, the survivability of the Rohingya is not Malaysia's war to fight.
The writer is a senior lecturer at the Department of Strategic Studies, National Defence University of Malaysia and Centre for Defence and International Security Studies Research Fellow