KUALA LUMPUR: The Rohingya community here have called on the government to initiate emergency support to assist them during the current Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia (MEHROM) president, Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani said the situation has taken a toll on most of them who have lost their source of income.
“The situation of Rohingya refugees is extremely vulnerable as most of us depend on daily wages to survive.
“Most Rohingya refugees just stay at home without any means to get money to feed their family.
“Most of them are struggling to survive now as we do not have any saving,” he said in a statement today.
Zafar said as of now, they did not receive any assistance for the affected Rohingya.
He said most Rohingya refugees here were struggling to pay their house rental and at the same time need food for their families.
“Most Rohingya have run out of food and cannot imagine how we are going to survive if the MCO continues,” he said.
He said as an emergency response, MEHROM had engaged with fellow Rohingya to assist their group until they manage to get some help.
“We encourage everyone to open their heart to help the affected refugees. We hope to get some help soon,” he said, adding that MEHROM was unable to provide any financial assistance as they were not funded.
“We appeal to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), private sectors, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), European Union, United Kingdom and the United States government to help the affected Rohingya refugees,” he added.