DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) urges the government to address the plight of refugees across the country during the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to UNHCR in Malaysia there are currently some 178,990 registered refugees and asylum-seekers. Some 154,080 are from Myanmar, 6,660 Pakistanis, 3,680 Yemenis, 3,290 Somalis, 3,290 Syrians, 2,590 Afghans, 1,830 Sri Lankans, 1,270 Iraqis, 790 Palestinians, and others. Among them are some 46,520 children below the age of 18.
Malaysia has yet to accede to neither the 1951 Refugee Convention relating to the Status of Refugees nor the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Whilst there has not been aggressive actions by the government to deport refugees and asylum seekers from Malaysia, their plight is one that is precarious, filled with unthinkable uncertainties and often subjected to social, economic and institutional abuse.
Many refugees, especially daily wage earners are suffering due to the movement control order (MCO) that has halted all non-essential activities. Without touching on current policy on refugees’ right to work and their legal status, at this unique and extraordinary set of circumstances in our history, the government MUST extend a helping hand to them.
Many unskilled labour and contractless casual 3D (dirty, dangerous and difficult) workers, as well as informal economy petty traders in Malaysia who are outliers within the social welfare system, are at a critical juncture. This group of workers,which includes a significant number of the aforementioned refugees and asylum seekers; are at their wits’ end. It is reported that a large number of construction workers from this category have not even been paid their due wages for the period prior to the MCO.
Without being presumptuous, when an individual — regardless of nationality and status — is denied access to a means to earn, it can quickly turn into either hunger, desperation or both. When this persists, as it is likely to under the MCO, that desperation will compel them to do whatever is necessary to feed themselves and their family.
If these daily wage earners and refugees do not receive any assistance in a timely manner during this period, the government could face social and public order issues added to the current economic and health crises. For Malaysian citizens, there is at least a faint light in the distant end of the tunnel as the government has announced -albeit it being lacklustre and lack in urgency of delivery- cash aid to assist workers out of pocket as a result of the MCO.
The prevailing wisdom is that when economic conditions are poor, crime rates will increase. To the contrary, in times of robust economic growth, crime rates either level off or decrease. Desperation, hunger and survival instincts are the best motivators for crime.
Whilst we are at war with the faceless but deadly enemy that is COVID-19, the largest ever public health crisis our nation has ever faced, which will be followed by an enduring and ruthless economic crisis, government must act to prevent a social and public order crisis that is avoidable by adhering to humanitarian values.
We urge for aid to be extended systemically to refugees. It is not only a compelling thing to do, it is the right and humanitarian thing to do.
Personal quote.
“My constituency office in Pasir Pinji Perak has been doing our part in delivering what is within our means to the rather scattered community of refugees in Ipoh.
We are also relieved to find that many DAP elected officials, as well as compassionate NGOs, individuals and companies nationwide have done the same. It must be stressed that such efforts are uncoordinated and piecemeal in nature.
Their vulnerability has just been ramped up by many folds as they are unable to earn- legally or otherwise- nor are they able to get their daily needs and groceries. They need help and they need it fast.
Desperation, hunger and survival instincts are the best motivators for crime. The least we can do is to remove desperation and hunger out of the equation, which well within our means.
I urge the government to work with UNHCR to urgently and swiftly work out an aid program to help these fellow human beings.”