KUALA LUMPUR: NGOs working with refugees in Malaysia are struggling to deal with the influx of asylum seekers which is quickly overtaking their limited resources.
As of August, there were over 160,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia, more than 42,000 of whom were children below the age of 18.
L Saraswathi, the family healthcare centre manager for the Malaysian Social Research Institute’s (MSRI) healthcare department, said they had been forced to close registrations for new refugees seeking healthcare services.
“We provide free health screening, consultations, referrals and other healthcare services, but only to those registered with MSRI,” she told FMT.
There are presently more than 6,000 refugees registered with the MSRI, whose general practitioners and screening specialists work mostly on a voluntary basis, giving them advice especially on diabetes and other chronic illnesses. One of them, a paid doctor, comes in several times a week.
Every day, Saraswathi said, they get up to 40 refugees seeking healthcare services.
The rising number of refugees is putting a strain on their resources, as the healthcare department no longer has the capacity to meet the demand.
“In 2016, we were forced to close registrations because there were too many refugees coming in. So those who have not registered, we cannot serve them.
“What we advise them to do is to go to the UNHCR to seek help. Once they have a letter from them or any documentation, if they walk in, we will take them as an emergency case.”
She added that the refugees themselves needed to be aware of the channels of help and options available to them.
“What we do now is, we have other NGOs giving them service if they are not registered with us,” she said.
Those who have the necessary documentation are also diverted to government hospitals, but there they have to pay a portion of the bill.
Education woes
Education for refugee children is another tough area for those striving to help asylum seekers in the country.
Liew Yoke Kim, who teaches at the Hilla Community School in Ampang, said the centre often lacked the manpower and resources to accommodate the rising number of students.
Liew, 45, told FMT they could not afford to have many people on their payroll, as the school depended on donations to keep afloat.
“Most of the staff work on a voluntary basis, although some are paid a salary or allowance,” she said, adding that the school was also understaffed.
To counter the problem, she said, some of the refugee children who had reached a certain age and education level were offered part-time teaching jobs at the school.
Even then, funds are just not enough.
“Every year, we have a bazaar to raise money for the rental of our space, or for transport for whenever we have to ferry the children around.”
Liew added that the school does not expect any funding from the government.
“We know that even our own people, some of them are very poor, especially in the suburbs.
“The government has to focus on their needs first before the refugees. We just do whatever we can to support them.”
Liew teaches mostly refugee children from Afghanistan and Myanmar, who come from very poor backgrounds.
She used to work as a private tutor for local children and those who attend international schools.
She told FMT that the difference in their attitudes was astounding.
“The refugee children have potential and they are keen to learn. For some of them, their attitudes are even better than those of some local children.”
She theorised that this was due to the fact that going to school was the norm for local children, who never had to fight for the opportunity.
The refugee children, on the other hand, saw education as a privilege, and even wanted to stick around during school holidays or after school ends for the day.
“We have to tell them to go back because we need to close,” she added.
Aside from financial difficulties, she said, the teachers also faced challenges in communicating with the children, many of whom did not understand a word of English when they arrived in the country.
The children also came from different cultures and were of different ages and at different stages in their education.
“I have 14 children in my class, and they all joined the school at different times,” Liew said.
“I find it very challenging because some of my students are advanced, but others who recently joined would have no choice but to be included in one of the ongoing classes, and they would be slower.”
She added that some children joined the school at the age of 18 and had problems fitting in with a class of 12- to 14-year-olds.
The children often lacked awareness in hygiene and civic-mindedness as well, she said, adding however that they could not be blamed for this as they had never been taught otherwise.
Many of them also grew up in difficult circumstances where survival was the ultimate concern.
But there were also success stories of refugee children who did well and went on to attend college in the US or Australia, she said. - FMT
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