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While Hong Kong offers free vaccinations to anyone over the age of 16, more than 13,000 refugees and asylum seekers have so far been excluded from the inoculation drive due to their lack of residency status – a decision that has sparked widespread criticism.
Despite the availability of jabs, the city’s vaccine take-up has been slow. Like others in Asia, the city’s early success in containing COVID-19 made the public less fearful of the virus, and more likely to choose to wait before getting the shot. The rollout has also been hampered by a growing public mistrust in authorities. Yet as unused vaccines pile up, officials still maintain that shots will not be offered to refugees or asylum seekers at this stage.
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MALAYSIA repatriated 1,086 Myanmar nationals on three navy ships sent by Myanmar. The deportation took place as the Covid-19 pandemic severely hurt the job prospects of migrants in Malaysia, effectively turning many documented workers into undocumented and potentially subject to immigration enforcement measures.
Why did Malaysia deported the asylum-seekers?
The deportation comes as more than 130 civil society groups had called for an immediate ban on sales of all equipment that could be used for military purposes to Myanmar, also known as Burma, while it still remains under military rule.
Malaysia is home to one of the largest refugee populations in East Asia. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, there are nearly 180,000 refugees and asylum seekers. The vast majority belong to Myanmar, including 102,250 Rohingya.
Moreh, Manipur, India – Seven Myanmar nationals, including three journalists from a Yangon-based media house, are set to travel to New Delhi to approach the India office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) after a court in the northeastern state of Manipur ordered safe passage for them on Monday.
The seven Myanmar nationals had been “hiding” in Moreh, a border town in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district, for weeks before they arrived in the state capital Imphal on April 21 following court-ordered interim protection.
The seven are among hundreds of Myanmar nationals, including policemen, military personnel and legislators, who are seeking shelter in the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram after they fled to escape a brutal crackdown following a military coup on February 1 this year.