WE, a consortium comprising the medical civil groups of Mercy Malaysia, Imaret and MRA, are alarmed and saddened by the response of some Malaysians towards the refugee community in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

One anonymous individual has even started an online petition, ambiguously titled “Say No to Rohingya”, which has garnered 30,000 signatures at the time of writing.

The petition rallies Malaysians to urge the government not to heed the call of civil organisations to look into refugee welfare, saying Rohingya problems ought to be resolved by Myanmar, and that they are a burden to host countries such as Malaysia.

Apart from not proposing alternative solutions to the Rohingya issue, the petition author demonstrated a poor understanding of the underlying problems in their country of origin, as well as the situation in the local context.

Firstly, refugees did not choose to leave their country to seek greener pastures in other lands. Most risked their lives and those of their families escaping their own countries. They are not here because they want to, but because they are unable to go home, hence, the oft-used term used to describe the Rohingya: stateless people.

Because Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, the country does not have a legal framework regulating the status and rights of refugees. This simply means that refugees are regarded as illegal or undocumented migrants, and they do not have legal access to employment, education, healthcare or protection.

This failure to accord refugee status has resulted in more harm than good, where there is no administrative framework for the implementation of refugee law, or protection laws that recognise and acknowledge their presence in this country.

As the saying goes, you cannot improve what you cannot measure. Until and unless there is a way to identify, map and coordinate the movement of the Rohingya in this country, there will always be suspicions and misconceptions about them as a community.

Their plight was brought to light again recently when it was found that many Rohingya, who are predominantly Muslims, attended a mass tabligh gathering at Sri Petaling Mosque in late February. The recent lockdowns on the Rohingya hotspots of Masjid Jamek and wholesale market in Selayang have only exacerbated public resentment, at a time when many Malaysians are financially struggling from the effects of the movement-control order.

As medical groups, we are unanimous in taking the stand that refugees must be screened, treated and protected from Covid-19, not only on humanitarian grounds, but for infection-control purposes.

Remember, these are people with no access to the basic healthcare that Malaysians take for granted. As they are charged expatriate rates at hospitals and clinics, they won’t seek medical treatment unless their condition is critical. Their communities are largely unvaccinated, and live in large numbers in cramped surroundings due to financial challenges.

If not quickly identified and treated, infectious diseases such as Covid-19 will continue to fester and spread not only among themselves, but to our countrymen. The government’s decisive action of identifying their cluster and moving in with mass screenings is to be lauded, for the overall good of all Malaysians.

The refugee and Rohingya issue in Malaysia does not go away simply with a petition to “Say No” to them. Rather than idealistically trying to wish them and their problems away, our consortium chooses to tackle the problem head-on, solving one problem at a time, focusing on their potential threat of being a Covid-19 hotbed.

Despite the challenges they face in this country, refugees have been taking care of their communities, aided by civil groups, so as to not burden the government and local community.

Much of their sustenance is provided on a humanitarian basis, supported by foreign funding and UNHCR, not the government as most people assume.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, some refugee communities have gone the extra mile to assist front-line health workers by producing PPE, while others actively disseminate information or help health workers conduct screening on their community.

As the month of Ramadan dawns on us, we hope and pray that Malaysians will bestow empathy and mercy upon all refugees, including the Rohingya, as fellow humans sharing the same space that God has bestowed upon us all. – April 24, 2020.

* Joint statement by Mercy Malaysia, Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia and Malaysia Relief Agency.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.