For decades, Muslim-majority Malaysia had welcomed Rohingya and turned blind eye to often illegal employment
Rohingya refugees look out from their homes, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 18, 2020. Picture taken May 18, 2020Eleyas, a Rohingya Muslim, fled to Malaysia six years ago, seeking a safe haven from persecution in Myanmar.
While the Rohingya have been the most obvious targets, other migrants are also worried in a country that relies heavily on foreign labour at factories, construction sites and plantations. Some 700,000 Rohingya fled from their homes in 2017 alone in the face of crackdown by Myanmar’s army.Malaysia was long seen as a haven of relative freedom and prosperity by Rohingya and it is now home to more than 100,000 of them despite the fact that it brands them illegal immigrants rather than refugees.But the coronavirus changed the atmosphere towards Malaysia’s estimated millions of undocumented migrants and most of all towards the Rohingya.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the arrests and the backlash towards refugees and foreign workers.The government has not said how many Rohingya have been found to have the virus.
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