As Malaysia faces CEDAW review, women refugees continue to struggle

Continued lack of a legal framework for refugees leaves undocumented women vulnerable to arrest when they seek medical help.

Unlike the excitement felt by many women when they find out they are expecting a baby, Hanna* was filled with fear when she realised she was pregnant.

The Myanmar refugee who arrived in Malaysia in 2023 and is still waiting for her United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card had many reasons to fear what was to come.

“I didn’t have money to go to a doctor, so I had to eat less for five months to save enough money to get a medical check,” she told Al Jazeera. Later, she was referred to a private clinic that provides antenatal care to refugees and asylum seekers for nominal prices. But the pains she endured during her pregnancy left Hannah with no choice but to seek help at a public hospital, where, as a refugee, she risked being reported to immigration for not having any documents.

Under Malaysia’s immigration laws, public health facilities are instructed to report undocumented patients to the authorities, putting them at risk of arrest, detention and deportation. This was reinforced by a directive from the Ministry of Health in 2001 that made it mandatory for public health workers to report undocumented patients.

Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 protocol relating to it. This means refugees are not recognised and they are deprived of basic human rights such as work, access to education and healthcare, and live under constant risk of arrest and detention.