In 2021, UNICEF Malaysia commissioned a study on the impact of Covid-19 on access to education and healthcare for refugee and asylum-seeking children in Peninsular Malaysia. IDEAS Malaysia conducted the study on access to education while Diode was responsible for the research and reporting on the access to healthcare section. 

​

Why this study? 

Refugee and asylum seeking children in Malaysia face significant barriers to accessing education and healthcare in Malaysia. For access to education notable barriers include a lack of conducive learning environment, teaching resources, and trained teachers, language and culture barriers, as well as limited opportunities for academic progression. For access to healthcare, barriers include poor health literacy, language and cultural barriers, a lack of legal status resulting in fear and risk of arrest and detention, financial difficulties, lack of appropriate healthcare facilities that can cater to the needs of the population, stigma and discrimination, and inconsistent application of health policies.

​

Findings from studies conducted during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, have also revealed that COVID-19 has exacerbated these barriers. However, the full impact of COVID-19 on refugee and asylum-seeking children’s access to education and healthcare in Malaysia is yet to be documented. An increased understanding on the current gaps, needs, barriers, and opportunities on access to education and healthcare, will strengthen advocacy efforts around developing more inclusive and equitable access to education and healthcare for refugee and asylum seeking children in Malaysia.
 

What does the research aim to do?

​

​This study will explore to what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the access to education and healthcare for refugee and asylum-seeking children. The study also aims to look into the existing and new barriers and opportunities to healthcare and education for refugee and asylum-seeking children prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how these barriers and opportunities to access education and healthcare for refugee and asylum-seeking children, prior and during the COVID-19 pandemic, differ based on age, gender, ethnicity, location, and disability. The study will also make recommendations on improving policies, mechanisms, and practices to access to education and healthcare for refugee and asylum-seeking children in response to and as part of the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. 

​

What are some conclusions and recommendations from the Study on Access to Healthcare? 

Data collection, analysis and reporting has been completed. A report has been launched and findings disseminated via an online webinar to various stakeholders in September 2022. 

​

Some key conclusions and recommendations on access to healthcare from the report include: 

• Health needs remained unchanged since the beginning of the pandemic.

• The main causes of morbidity include a lack of health literacy, hygiene status, poor nutrition, and lack of documentation.

• Participants also perceived causes of morbidity worsened during the pandemic.

• All existing barriers to access to healthcare worsened during the pandemic

• Main barriers include: cost-related barriers, sociocultural barriers, fear of arrest and detention, harmful and inconsistent application of healthcare policies, discrimination, xenophobia, and a lack of empathy among Healthcare workers, knowledge gaps among parents and caregivers, lack of state support for child protection issues and lack of availability of refugee-specific health services.

• Several recommendations are made including recommendations related to law and policy changes, improving quality of healthcare services and capacity building of healthcare workers, conducting targeted health programs for specific needs, intensifying networking, coordination and partnerships. 

​

Reporting

The thematic report is available for download on the IDEAS Malaysia website accessible here: https://bit.ly/IdsUnf2022 

 

 

A presentation on the summary of key findings and recommendations on access to healthcare is available here: