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ČR funds Malaysian health scheme

Mobile clinics serve refugees living without basic needs or rights

By Lisa Nuch Venbrux
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 15th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Refugees receive medicine from volunteer nurses. Dental care ranks highest among health concerns, followed by coughs and colds.
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COURTESY PHOTO
The NGO Mercy Malaysia carries out the field work with the help of volunteers at mobile clinics.
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In early August, human rights activists worldwide reacted in outrage as forces of the government of Malaysia rounded up and caned scores of refugees. Tens of thousands of others continue living on Malaysian territory, trying to stay out of reach of the authorities.
For most of the refugees, the majority of whom fled severe human rights abuses in Myanmar (Burma), staying out of reach means living without basic needs. Makeshift huts, poor sanitation and dirty water force many into poor health with little or no access to care.
The Czech government is now playing a small part in addressing these problems.
On July 15, officials from the embassy in Kuala Lumpur joined a team of volunteers in bringing a mobile medical clinic to a remote area outside the capital.
The project, funded by the government, aims to bring health care and education to hundreds over the next eight months.
“Providing humanitarian aid is an integral part of [Czech] foreign policy, and this specific project fits perfectly in our objectives,” says Dana Huňátová, ambassador of the Czech Republic to Malaysia.
To get the project off the ground and into the jungle, Huňátová contacted the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
“The Czech Republic has collaborated with the UNHCR on different projects in many countries; it was natural then for me to get in contact with the local UNHCR,” she says.
The agency is assisting the country to monitor the implementation of the project as well as compile reports and feedback on its progress, says Henrik Nordentoft, deputy representative of UNHCR Malaysia.
The primary work in the field, however, is conducted through the nongovernmental organization Mercy Malaysia.
Twice a month, the NGO brings mobile clinics, staffed by five medical personnel and seven to eight nonmedical support staffers, to different groups of refugees, covering an area off the map for most doctors.
In July, 200 people received treatment, within a larger community of roughly 1,000 refugees.
“So far, no notable problems have been encountered during these clinics,” says Rossimah Mohamed, deputy head of relief operations for Mercy Malaysia. “The refugees were satisfied with the health care.”
While some patients have ailments beyond the scope of the clinics, which provide primary-care checkups and hygiene education, most come with conditions the medical staff can treat.
“Dental health care ranks the highest on the refugees’ list of health concerns,” followed by common illnesses such as coughs and colds, Mohamed says.
Shaky ground
During the inaugural run, refugees and volunteers gathered in the corner of a long house usually used as a school. Shoes lay in scattered piles at its doorstep. The sparsely furnished space, dotted with small plastic chairs, could be reached after a five-minute walk from the main road.
Nordentoft, of UNHCR Malaysia, says such projects are helpful in getting to people who cannot, for one reason or another, get health care any other way.
“Access to governmental health services is generally difficult for this group of concern,” he says. “Many persons of concern to UNHCR are reluctant to approach government clinics and hospitals because they fear they may be arrested.”
Indeed, according to Doctors Without Borders, which documented the issues surrounding refugee communities in a 2006 briefing paper, the legal framework of Malaysia does not differentiate between undocumented migrants and refugees or asylum-seekers.
In plainer language, these communities do not receive adequate protection under international law, and are subject to all the punishments, including detention and whipping, meted out to “illegals” there.
The precise location of the refugees served by this project cannot be named, as that would leave them exposed to government raids.
Fear of arrest and corporal punishment are not the only factors deterring people from seeking help, Nordentoft says. Language barriers and high healthcare costs also keep people away.
“Non-Malaysians are charged two times or higher the normal fee for health services at governmental hospitals or clinics,” he explains. “Coupled with difficulty in seeking jobs to sustain most basic needs … [this] increases their vulnerability.”
For the moment, at least a few of the 37,000 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the UNHCR will get some relief.
But, like many humanitarian aid projects worldwide, both human and financial resources ($19,000, or 388,740 Kč, in this case) will only stretch for a limited time. As of now, the project will end next March.
Both Nordentoft and Mercy Malaysia’s Mohamed say continuing the project depends on more contributions, and on how fruitful its work has been.
“I am convinced that this project will be successful and I hope the Czech Republic will continue to provide necessary funding again,” Ambassador Huňátová says.
Her vision, in fact, extends well beyond next spring. “My long-term target is to help refugees Myanmar [Burma] … restart their lives in the Czech Republic,” she says.

Lisa Nuch Venbrux can be reached at lvenbrux@praguepost.com


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