REFUGEES face the threat of evictions during the movement-control order period as they can’t pay their rents arising from the loss of income and work, a survey found.

More than 75% indicated that they are only able to pay rent for April, said a Refugee Coalition of Malaysia (RCOM) survey of 400 respondents.

Another 40% have been threatened with eviction by their landlords, it said.

More than 400 refugees from different communities took part in the survey.

Malaysia is not a signatory of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, despite the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) involvement in refugee affairs here.

For that reason, they are officially considered as illegal migrants awaiting resettlement to a third country and, therefore, denied access to formal education or employment.

Lukes, a refugee from Pakistan, said he managed to convince his landlord not to evict his family but said if the MCO continues, he would have no choice but to move out.

“We have requested and somehow managed to convince my landlord that as soon as this MCO is called off, we will resume our work and settle our debt, but this might not be the case if the MCO is extended further,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“This is hard for us, as refugees, because we do not have full-time jobs.

“We earn our bread and butter by doing odd jobs, such as dishwashers, electricians, restaurant waiters, cleaners and other jobs that need some extra manpower which is only temporary.

“And with that amount, we barely make our ends meet, living a hand to mouth without any saving,” said the 43-year-old.

Lukes was making around RM60 to RM70 daily, depending on which odd job is available, with the last one before the MCO sewing clothes.

He lives in a three-bedroom flat in Jalan Ipoh, where he occupies one bedroom with his wife and three children and their share is RM650 a month, while the other rooms are occupied by two other families.

Abusive landlords

Another Pakistani refugee, Asher Waseem, who also does odd jobs said he and his housemates are all jobless during this MCO period.

“My owner is pressuring me to pay the rental, which is not possible for me right now.”

The landlord sent Asher an abusive text message, viewed by The Malaysian Insight, containing vulgar words to demand his rent, regardless of the current circumstances.

When asked where he would go if he could not pay the rent, Asher said he would have nowhere to go and hopes the owner would have pity on him.

“With humble regards, I am a refugee. Nobody trusts a refugee here in Malaysia,” he said.

Marwan Mohsen Ali, a Yemeni refugee and freelance Arabic teacher, 40, told The Malaysian Insight he only managed to pay his part of the rent for March and is struggling to find enough for April.

“I managed to pay for March by borrowing money from friends but I’m not sure about the next month because there is no income at all.

“My housemates said if we don’t pay our rent for April, the owner has already told us to move out.”

Marwan used to work at a hotel’s front desk in 2017 and then at a factory, but because refugees are denied work permits, he started teaching Arabic as a way to earn something.

From teaching Arabic, Marwan gets around RM640 a month but under the MCO, that income is totally lost as classroom learning is shut down and lessons have shifted online.

“I have been in Malaysia for five years now, homelessness is like an on and off thing for me, like I was homeless in February, so I try my best when I get any job offer,” he said.

Bank moratorium

Afaq, a refugee from Pakistan, who is currently undergoing dialysis because of kidney problems, said before the MCO, his wife, the sole breadwinner after his sickness, earned RM1,200 a month working in a factory.

With the MCO in place, she lost her job and their landlord is harassing them for the April rent.

“I’m having issues trying to pay my rent now. The owner says he doesn’t care whether I have money to pay the rent or not.

“He said: ‘This is your problem, I need my rent’.

“I feel burdened as I am living with my wife and two kids who are still in school,” said the 49-year-old.

Afaq and his family fled Pakistan five years ago out of fear of being persecuted because of religious discrimination.

Putrajaya announced a six-month loan moratorium, which includes property mortgages, to alleviate the financial burden of homeowners during the MCO.

There is, however, no guarantee that the landlords would extend the same treatment to their tenants.

According to UNHCR Malaysia, as of late February 2020, there are some 178,990 refugees and asylum-seekers registered in Malaysia. – April 20, 2020.