Trapped and Abandoned: The Fate of Illegal Imigrants

Shocked and horrified.

These are the words best described Irene Xavier’s feelings when she witnesses a woman delivering her child in a makeshift delivery room next to a sawmill with her own eyes.

“I was horrified. The enclosure was filled with sawdust. Just next door was a cutting machine with stacks of logs and planks piled up beside it,” said executive director of Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor (Selangor Friends of Women Association) Irene Xavier according to The Sun.

” I could see that the mother was filled with fear as she waited for her child’s arrival,” Xavier said. She said the woman even refused an offer to take her to a hospital for health checks and vaccination for her baby.

She brought dry rations for the woman, as the woman can’t afford traditional food for pregnant women.

Self-medication usually is the only option for immigrants, these people don’t even concern with Covid-19, and the authorities don’t seem to care about their welfare.

The government does not give food aid to non-Malaysians so these migrants are left out in the cold according to Xavier.

Their fear of getting caught often results in resorting to desperate and unconventional measures.

As Xavier saw the children play with dust, and their homes were nothing more than makeshift homes made from plywood, surrounded by sawdust and mud, she has no doubt the possibility of the baby contracting Covid-19 is high.

However, according to UNHCR website, Malaysia law enforcement personnel and district health officers have been working with UNHCR and its NGO partners in an efforts to provide free testing and treatment for any foreigners with Covid-19 symptoms and gave reassurances that undocumented foreigners who come forward for testing and treatment would not face arrest for Immigration offenses.

UNHCR’s NGO partners are IMARET, Muslim Relief Agency, and MERCY Malaysia.

“Since the start of the outbreak, UNHCR has been coordinating closely with the Ministry of Health and the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) in order to ensure that all refugee and asylum-seeking communities are included in the Government’s national response measures, and to prevent infection from spreading among the communities,” said UNHCR public health officer, Dr. Susheela Balasundaram.

Department of Immigration director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud claimed its department has suspended all operations against illegal immigrants during the Movement Control Order (MCO) except for important cases and on the directives from the National Security Council (MKN), according to The Sun.