Operational context
UNHCR pursued steps to establish a national asylum framework and refugee policy that would afford refugees and asylum-seekers temporary stay and access to legal work. However, changes in the socio-political landscape and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the process.
Movement Control Orders (MCO) put in place by the Government to curb the spread of COVID-19 and other containment measures gravely impacted the ability of people of concern to meet their basic needs and resulted in many refugees losing their source of income.
While regular UNHCR activities slowed down during the MCO, essential protection and assistance services and business continuity was nonetheless ensured. Efforts continued to provide protection and assistance to refugees, including though registration and documentation, a salient protection tool against arrest and detention.
The socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 coupled with a complex socio-political context and the arrival of asylum-seekers through secondary movements fuelled an unprecedented orchestrated hate campaign on social media against refugees and other foreigners. Moreover, due to the unprecedented global challenges posed by the pandemic, the Operation saw the lowest resettlement departures since 2008.
In line with the Global Compact on Refugees and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UNHCR contributed to the development of the UNSDCF 2021-2025 for Malaysia, focusing on the inclusion of refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons in social protection mechanisms.
Finally, since the statelessness programme began in 2014, 13,070 persons applied for citizenship through UNHCR’s partner, of whom 4,036 acquired nationality.
Population trends
- As of end 2020, the total number of people of concern registered with the Office remained largely unchanged; with 178,613 people, including 128,769 refugees (72%) and 49,844 asylum-seekers (28%).
- Out of this total, 86% were from Myanmar. Of the non-Myanmar population, the largest group is from Pakistan, followed by Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan and other countries. In Malaysia, people of concern primarily live in urban areas.
- Out of the overall population, 68% are male and 32% are female, with the majority (73%) aged between 18 and 59 years.
- At the end of 2020, there were 111,298 stateless persons in Malaysia, of which 102,258 were stateless refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar. The remaining 9,040 are in situ stateless persons in West Malaysia, the majority of whom are of Indian Tamil ethnicity.
Key achievements
- Business continuity: Regular activities slowed down during the MCO and the UNHCR reception centre was closed. However, essential protection and assistance services and business continuity was ensured through alternative work modalities, namely through remote case management and interview processes and procedures.
- Emergency response: With additional resources received for the COVD-19 emergency response, the Operation significantly expanded and increased support to people of concern in order to address their immediate socioeconomic needs in the areas of: cash support (6,002 households / 20,170 individuals), communication with communities, support to refugee based organizations (21 refugee based organisations provided with financial support), health including mental health and additional secondary health care support (1,698 individuals), support with food packages (8,435 households), education, distance learning (10,800 children and youth); support to children (411 children) and women at risk (47 women) as well as GBV survivors (368 individuals), etc.
- Community outreach: As part of its community outreach strategy and to bring protection services closer to refugees, the operation expanded its support to refugees (4,706 individuals) in Johor state through the establishment of a community outreach centre.
Unmet needs
Inadequate resources resulted in consequences for refugees who face challenges in achieving greater economic self-reliance and access to services in a challenging protection environment.
- Due to the pandemic, the backlog of unregistered people of concern and the number of people in the refugee status determination process increased.
- Movement restrictions and economic lockdowns exacerbated challenges in accessing health care. Supported interventions in the area of mental health expanded in 2020 were still insufficient to meet the growing needs.
- Critical needs also remain in various areas of primary and secondary education, including access to quality education and the retention of boys and girls in schools.
- The pandemic exacerbated protection risks for women and children, including barriers for gender-based violence survivors in accessing justice and protection and increased negative coping mechanisms, including child labour, begging, and exposure to exploitation and abuse.
- There remains a need to further strengthen cash assistance to address the urgent and immediate financial needs of vulnerable refugees and strengthen interventions to enhance the socioeconomic resilience of refugees.
Use of flexible funding (unearmarked or softly earmarked funding)
With thanks to flexible funding which amounted to USD 10.9 million in 2020, UNHCR in Malaysia was able to implement the following activities.
- The UNHCR reception centre, which receives an average of 600 to 1,000 people of concern per day, was upgraded to improve reception conditions, such as visitor and physical workflows; reduce waiting time; establish a more welcoming and respectful environment. The design of the centre was also improved to comply with physical distancing and other necessary health precautionary measures in accordance with Government issued guidelines and WHO recommendations in the context of the pandemic.
- Investment in digital infrastructure was made with the provision of tablets for 1,000 secondary students, laptops for 217 teachers, data/plan connectivity for 1,800 students and 135 teachers and production of online learning material. Other innovative practices were implemented to facilitate access to education and sustain retention of children during the pandemic.