PUSHED UNDERGROUND: ROHINGYA REFUGEES IN MALAYSIA

GENERAL CAPTION:

There are over 177,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, the vast majority of whom are from Myanmar. Some 97,750 are Rohingya, making them the largest refugee group in the country. Rohingya have been coming to Malaysia to escape discrimination in their native Rakhine State since the 1990s, and with the camps in Bangladesh offering few prospects for the future, more continue to arrive. While the urban environment in Malaysia offers refugees and asylum seekers some anonymity, there are few safety nets as domestic law effectively criminalises them. Refugees can register with the UNHCR, but they don’t receive much assistance, cannot legally work and face limited access to education, healthcare and other social services.

Living in constant fear of arrest, detention and even deportation pushes refugees and other undocumented people underground. Most are reluctant to venture outside, and delay seeking healthcare even in emergencies in case hospital staff report them to immigration services.

To respond to the clear gap in services for this vulnerable group, MSF has been providing healthcare to Rohingya and other refugee and undocumented migrant communities in the Malaysian state of Penang since 2015, and also provides primary health care, referrals and psychosocial and counselling services in five government protection shelters for survivors of trafficking. In addition to running mobile clinics, MSF opened a fixed primary healthcare clinic in October 2018 in Butterworth, a Penang neighbourhood where many undocumented migrants and refugees reside.

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Linked assets

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Rohingya in Malaysia: Abdul S. Story

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