MALAYSIA TOGETHER WE CAN THE COVID-19 IMPACT ON STATELESS PEOPLE & A ROADMAP FOR CHANGE INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic and state responses to lives, wellbeing, and rights of the approximately 15 million stateless people around the world who have been denied a nationality, as well as tens of millions whose nationality is at risk. Globally, the devastating impacts of exclusion and denial of fundamental rights, including healthcare, during the pandemic relate to much deeper structural problems – the historic and systemic exclusion, deprivation and marginalisation of communities that have been made stateless as part of wider discriminatory political acts, or pursuant to dominant, discriminatory ideologies. COVID-19 has shone a light on these challenges and also presents a unique opportunity to raise visibility, address the structural causes of statelessness, and secure lasting change, through working directly with stateless people and being accountable to them. The same is true for Malaysia, where the pandemic has further brought to light the acute human rights deprivations endured by those affected by gender discriminatory nationality laws including non-citizen spouses and their children; members of the Indian Tamil community; the Bajau Laut community and stateless Rohingya refugees alike. This publication is an extract of the global report, Together We Can: The COVID-19 Impact on Stateless People & a Roadmap for Change,1 published in June 2021 by the COVID-19 Emergency Statelessness Fund (CESF) Consortium,2 a global consortium of NGOs and citizenship rights activists, initiated by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) in June 2020 to respond to the impact of COVID-19 on stateless populations. It focuses on the situation in Malaysia, by presenting the 32 Malaysia chapter of the global report, along with the and a practical 3-step Roadmap for Change, which provides a framework for resolving and addressing the structural discrimination and exclusion of stateless people, during times of COVID-19 and beyond. The Together We Can global report is grounded in the experiences and expertise of Consortium members drawing on a mix of desk research cacy projects being implemented by CESF consortium members in 13 countries. In addition to documenting challenges, the report identiexamples from the CESF project countries. It also draws on information from other countries, solicited through an open call for information which ISI shared with partners, regular tracking of news and information on COVID-19 and statelessness by the ISI team, as published in ISI Monthly Bulletins,3 interviews and conversations with relevant partners, and dedicated desk-based research conducted for this report. available at the time of writing. While we have made efforts to verify the ongoing nature of ble, and we welcome any updates or corrections from relevant stakeholders. All information is up to date as of 25 May 2021. ACRONYMS CESF – COVID-19 Emergency Statelessness Fund COVID-19 – Corona Virus Disease 2019 NGO – Non-governmental Organisation LTSVP – Long-Term Social Visit Pass MCO – Movement Control Orders SUHAKAM – Human Rights Commission of Malaysia INJUSTICE, INEQUALITY, AND EXCLUSION DRIVE AND PERPETUATE THE MARGINALISATION OF VULNERABLE AND STIGMATISED POPULATIONS, INCLUDING STATELESS COMMUNITIES. THESE FACTORS HAVE LED TO DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, AS STATELESS PEOPLE, THE MAJORITY OF WHOM LIVE IN POVERTY, ARE FORCED TO WORK IN UNSAFE ENVIRONMENTS WITHOUT ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE, TESTING OR VACCINES. ALL OF US IN THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMUNITY HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT THE RIGHT TO HEALTH CARE FOR ALL POPULATIONS, IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR CITIZENSHIP OR IMMIGRATION STATUS. THUS, IT IS CRUCIAL THAT WE UNDERSTAND AND RESPOND TO THE WAYS IN WHICH THE PANDEMIC HAS AGGRAVATED THE ALREADY GRAVE STATELESSNESS CRISIS. THIS REPORT AND ROADMAP PROVIDE AN EXCELLENT GUIDE TO MORE INCLUSIVE APPROACHES TO ADDRESSING THE CRISIS INCUMBENT ON MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS, AND THEY ARE AN IMPORTANT STARTING POINT FOR ALL HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTORS DEDICATED TO AN EQUITABLE, INCLUSIVE, AND EFFECTIVE RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC. MICHELLE WILLIAMS DEAN, HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH