Reports & Publications

Malaysians pride ourselves on the affordability of our public healthcare services, but is it affordable for all communities that need it? This World Refugee Day, we’re shining the spotlight on the healthcare challenges that refugee communities in Malaysia face and the work that Refugee Emergency Fund does to help bridge the gap whenever they can. We find out from Liza Nordeen, fund coordinator from Refugee Emergency Fund.

IOM Malaysia, in partnership with Al Ikhlas Hope Society and other refugee communities, with the support of the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (@eu_echo), has been working on #WeAreInThisTogether campaign, which advocates for anti-stigma and -xenophobia, promotes tolerance and inclusion of refugees and migrants in COVID-19 response plans.

For 24 days, 14 chefs from different refugee communities cooked and delivered food to frontline health workers at Ampang Hospital. Hailing from Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Palestine and Iraq, they set aside the multiple challenges they face daily as refugees, answering the call for support without hesitation.

The Refugee Festival 2023 will be taking place at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) from the 8th - 10th of September. The event was founded by investigative journalist Mahi Ramakrishnan and was first held at Black Box Publika in 2016. The event has since grown into an annual affair with even more participation from various refugee community leaders.

Digital literacy and menstrual health education programmes are changing the lives of refugee women in Malaysia. Here's how.

Former aviation consultant,  Norliza Nordeen, founded Al-Ikhlas Hope Society to support the needs of the Rohingyan community in Malaysia. As an advocate for refugees, Norliza mobilises the community around her, and remains instrumental in elevating causes that are close to her heart.

In a small shop-turned-kitchen on the ground floor of a block of flats in Kuala Lumpur, Mohammad Jaber, 60, is preparing a feast: 20 portions of bechamel macaroni with minced chicken and lentil soup, accompanied by basbousa, a traditional semolina sweet cake he and his family often ate back in Syria before they fled to Malaysia in 2012.

There are no refugees in Singapore. But that didn’t stop Mathilda and Wani from joining the global movement to support refugees through Advocates for Refugees Singapore.

Did you know there are about 50,000 refugee children in Malaysia below the age of 18? In Malaysia, refugees have no legal status, and their children have no access to the national education system.

Founded in 2016 by investigative journalist Mahi Ramakrishnan, The Refugee Festival is an annual event that offers Malaysians the opportunity to interact as well as be entertained by the refugee community here through their cultural expressions such as music, dance, art, and storytelling.

As non-citizens, refugees living with HIV are unable to access government-subsidised life saving treatment. Paying for private care is costly. “There are still hidden costs that come with (HIV medication), like blood tests, medical checkups, and consultations. If someone cannot work and whatever they earn is just enough for rent and food, how are we expecting them to be able to pay for these (hidden costs)?”, says Al-Akraa.