WHEN the authorities rounded up homeless from Kuala Lumpur to keep them safe from Covid-19, they were shocked that among them were a Briton, Japanese, South Korean and Somalian living on the streets.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) rounded up 71 foreigners from 18 countries from the streets, and they are all currently housed at the Alam Damai multipurpose hall in Cheras.

The foreigners all have their own stories as to how they ended up being homeless in Kuala Lumpur.

When The Malaysian Insight team visited the shelter recently, one face stood out – a 51-year-old Briton who only wanted to be known as James.

Originally from Nottingham, James said he was a teacher and was stranded in Kuala Lumpur after failing to fly to Myanmar.

He was brought to the shelter on Monday after he had spent almost 12 days living by Sg Klang.

James said he lives in Cambodia and was en route to Myanmar from Laos, with Kuala Lumpur being his transit point.

However, after arriving in Malaysia, James said he couldn’t continue his journey because Myanmar had suspended its visa-on-arrival service.

“When I got to Malaysia on March 17, I found that Myanmar had suspended its visa-on-arrival service. So, I got stuck here.

“I was staying by the Klang river before this. I met some Malaysians, so I just stayed with them next to the river. I stayed there for about 12 days,” he said.

He was on his way to Myanmar to study Buddhism but under the present situation, he now wants to explore and learn about Islam in Malaysia.

“Probably now when everything reopens, I will try to get a job teaching English to save some money and then maybe go to Myanmar next year.

“I thought this was a good opportunity to study about Islam. I never really studied Islam before.

“I’ve read the Quran but have not actually studied it. I wanted to study Islamic meditation and Islamic philosophy of living because it is not the same as Buddhism.

“So, quite happy to be here because I wanted to study Islam before but I just didn’t have the opportunity,” he said, adding that he finds the shelter clean and spacious.

Somalian refugee

Somalian Ismael, 36, said he came to Malaysia in 2004 as a student and continued living here because of the civil war in his country. He then he sought refugee status with the United Nations.

He married a Somalian woman here and has children. However, he has not seen them for five years now because they are in Indonesia.

“They went in 2015 and for five years, I’ve not seen them,” he said, without elaborating much on why they went there.

Ismael became homeless about a year back and started living near a mosque in the city centre, where the enforcement officers picked him up.

“I became homeless in the last one year and was living by a mosque. So, when this coronavirus disease became serious, police came and interviewed me. They said they wanted to protect me and they brought me here.

“Well, I’m just relaxing here. I thank the government of Malaysia for protecting us from the coronavirus. They are giving us nourishment, mattress, blankets and shirts. This place is very tranquil,” he said.

Stranded monk

Some of those rounded-up are not actually homeless but forced onto the streets because of travel restrictions or lack of funds to stay at a hotel.

Kim Wang-won, a Buddhist monk from South Korea, said he was in Malaysia to visit a temple in Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Kim, who arrived from Thailand on March 16, said he has been to Malaysia many times but was left stranded in KL Sentral this time as there was no transport because of the movement-control order (MCO). He was brought to the shelter on April 1.

“I’ve been to Malaysia many times. Whenever I come, I will stay at the Subang Jaya Buddist temple. First time I came here was nine years ago.

“This time, I came to Malaysia from Thailand on March 16. I stayed for two days in Penang and I came to KL on March 18. That time everything was closed and I couldn’t go to the Buddhist temple in Subang jaya. So, I stayed outside.

“On April 1, at 3am, I was at KL Sentral train station. So, they brought me here,” he said.

Kim will remain in the shelter until the crisis ends, adding that he has all the necessary documents and that he would go to either Singapore or Thailand after this.

“After this virus issue ends, I want to go to Subang Jaya temple, maybe stay a month. After all the travel restrictions are over, I would probably go to Singapore or Thailand,” Kim, who is also known as Gan Ta Sa Ra (Buddhist name), told The Malaysian Insight.

Toshi from Japan is also currently living in the shelter because he lost his passport and was picked up on April 1.

Toshi, who works in an iron company in Ishikawa on Honshu Island, said he came to Malaysia for a holiday two months ago and was supposed to go back next week but he lost his passport. He is seeking help from his embassy.

“I was walking with my bags and some officers approached me on motorbikes. They then took me in a bus and we came here.

“I’m a tourist. I came here two months ago for holidays but I lost my passport. Before this I stayed in a hotel and I was supposed to go back to Japan but I lost my passport. So, I’m asking help from my embassy. After I get my passport, I want to go back,” he said.

At the hall, mattresses are placed 1m apart, following the social-distancing rules, pillows, blankets, masks, sanitisers and clothes are also provided.

Of the 71 foreigners, 56 are male and 15 female. The shelter also houses three children. The single women live in a room, while the rest sleep on the stage, while the men occupy the hall floor.

The highest number of foreigners here are from Myanmar (23), Indonesians (21) and Indians (6).

Easy monitoring

DBKL community development and urban wellbeing department director Anwar Mohd Zain told The Malaysian Insight that all homeless foreigners have been transferred to the Alam Damai Cheras multipurpose hall for easier monitoring.

All those at the shelters have undergone Covid-19 tests and none was found to be positive, Anwar said.

Security around the hall has also been tightened after two homeless escaped the shelter on April 3.

“One Bangladeshi and one Myanmar. Now, we have police and army officers here. Before this, we only had Rela officers. We’ve also put barbed wire fencing around the area.

“So, hope this doesn’t happen again.”

Anwar said the homeless are provided with six meals daily, with some activities being planned for them. The meals are sponsored by Kembara Kitchen.

After the MCO ends, these foreigners will be handed over to the Immigration Department for further action.

The MCO was enforced on March 18 to break the chain of Covid-19 infections. It has now been extended to April 14 as the number of infections keep rising.

As of yesterday, Malaysia recorded 3,963 cases with 63 deaths. – April 8, 2020.