Letter to Editor
THE suicide by a refugee from Myanmar, who also threw his three kids off an elevated highway, is sad. But such suicides have been on the increase following the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were an estimated 24 of such deaths between the start of the pandemic and end-February 2021, as reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
For example, a young mother from Myanmar jumped to her death from an apartment building in 2021 – fearing her precarious immigration status – a day before the Malaysian Government forcefully deported more than 1,000 refugees despite a court order and huge protests from civil society groups.
The recent suicide is also very telling. Refugees have been rounded up in immigration raids and this has created huge fear and also severely affected their freedom of movement.
It’s also a double whammy as refugees can’t work legally in Malaysia and even having a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card doesn’t guarantee they won’t get arrested by the police or immigration.
This is compounded by the Government denying the UNHCR access to these immigration detention centres.
Furthermore, the loss of jobs, inability to feed their families or make rent and the lack of a safe passage to seeking asylum are some of the reasons refugees are forced to commit suicide.
Not only do they not have the right to work, but they are also unable to access affordable healthcare and structured education for their children.
Besides, we have no way of gauging the prevalence of mental health issues among the refugee population who are forced to live under the radar as the Government continues not to recognise their right to seek asylum as it has not ratified the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.
We need to address this without further delay. The Government is obligated under international laws and humanitarian principles to recognise the rights of refugees. Instead of piecemeal solutions, we need to ensure asylum seekers and refugees can live with dignity.
We therefore need the Government to stop immigration raids, ensure aid packages include refugee communities, grant them the right to work and allow the UNHCR access to immigration detention centres so that asylum seekers could be registered.
Or we may continue seeing more suicides. – Aug 3, 2022
James Bawi Thang Bik is the representative and former chairman of Alliance of Chin Refugees while Mahi Ramakhrisnan is the founder and president of Beyond Borders.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
