By Krishna N. Das and A. Ananthalakshmi
KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 (Reuters) - Malaysian authorities are
scrambling to track down about 2,000 Rohingya men who attended a
Muslim religious gathering that has led to a big spike in
coronavirus cases across Southeast Asia, a security source and
two other people told Reuters.
More than 100,000 Rohingya live in Malaysia after fleeing
from Myanmar, but they are considered illegal immigrants. Their
status would likely make many of them reluctant to identify
themselves to get tested for the coronavirus even if they showed
symptoms, other sources, in the Rohingya community, said.
Malaysia's search for the Rohingya highlights the challenge
for governments trying to track the virus among communities
living without official papers and wary of authorities.
The religious gathering late last month at a mosque on the
outskirts of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur was attended
by some 16,000 people, including the Rohingya Muslims from
Myanmar, one source said.
As well as the Rohingya, about 1,500 Muslims from across
Asia attended.
Nearly 600 coronavirus cases in Southeast Asia have been
linked to the gathering, including 513 in Malaysia, 61 in
Brunei, 22 in Cambodia, at least five in Singapore and two in
Thailand.
Malaysia has 790 coronavirus cases in all.
Malaysian authorities have been tracking down the
participants but say they have been unable to find about 4,000
of them.
"They have gone back to their families across Malaysia, it
has become difficult for us to contact them. Many are afraid of
admitting that they attended, they fear they will get into
problems with the authorities," one of the sources, who works
with the refugee community, said.
"The government is concerned that if they don't come
forward, the infection might spread further."
'SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION'
The government had asked the police criminal investigation
division to look for the missing participants, the security
source said.
Police declined to comment and directed queries to the
Malaysian National Security Council under the prime minister's
office. It could not immediately be reached for comment.
Malaysia implemented travel curbs and shut down
non-essential businesses from Wednesday for two weeks to contain
the coronavirus after the spike in cases linked to the mosque
gathering. One person who attended the gathering died from
COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, this week.
Participants spent most of their time crowded into the
mosque for the four-day event, but some went to restaurants,
shopping malls and Kuala Lumpur's landmark Petronas twin towers,
according to Reuters interviews with people who attended and
social media posts.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in
Malaysia told Reuters it had heard that refugees and
asylum-seekers were at the gathering and it was working with the
Ministry of Health to ensure that all refugee and asylum-seeking
communities were included in government response measures.
"Refugees and asylum-seekers are advised to seek medical
attention if they present symptoms of COVID-19 infection,
regardless of whether they were present at events like the
mentioned religious gathering," UNHCR Malaysia said in an email.
The Ministry of Health did not respond to requests for
comment.
A 39-year Rohingya father of four, who lives in the
Malaysian state of Penang, said he spent days at the mosque
event with nearly two dozen Rohingya friends. He said none of
them was showing any symptoms and he went to a hospital but no
test was done.
"Everything's fine, no fever nothing," the construction
worker said. Reuters is withholding his name to protect his
identity.
Salman, a Bangladeshi construction worker who lives near the
mosque, said he and many other Bangladeshis went to the
gathering. His coronavirus test was negative but the hospital
calls him daily to check if he has symptoms, Salman said.
"When I went for testing, they didn't ask for passport or
work permit or any documents. They just asked for my name, age
and address," said Salman, who declined to give his full name.