Advocates report increased public anger in Malaysia against Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers as the coronavirus crisis deepens, raising concerns of a migrant crisis as South-East Asia experienced in 2015.

Key points: A series of xenophobic petitions and viral posts have called for Rohingya to "return home" to Myanmar

A series of xenophobic petitions and viral posts have called for Rohingya to "return home" to Myanmar Malaysia recently turned back a boat carrying 200 Rohingya, reversing its previous welcoming approach

Malaysia recently turned back a boat carrying 200 Rohingya, reversing its previous welcoming approach The UN and other agencies fear turning away Rohingya could lead to a repeat of 2015's migrant crisis

While Rohingya refugees have historically received popular and political backing in Muslim-majority Malaysia on the basis of Islamic solidarity, anxiety over the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have eroded sympathy for the persecuted group.

Malaysia had previously allowed Rohingya arriving by boat from Bangladesh or Myanmar to enter the country, but last week the Government turned back a boat carrying some 200 Rohingya over COVID-19 concerns.

Malaysia has confirmed 5,691 cases of the coronavirus including 96 fatalities.

Some Rohingya are thought to have attended an Islamic gathering in late February, which was the source of Malaysia's first major outbreak.

"With COVID-19 we are all afraid," said Sharifah Shakirah, director of the Kuala Lumpur-based Rohingya Women Development Network, a charity.

"But some, because of misconceptions, are using really, really harsh words against one community, creating hatred against Rohingya."

'We cannot return home'

The mostly-Muslim Rohingya people are the largest stateless population on earth, having fled brutal persecution in Myanmar for decades.

There are more than 100,000 Rohingya in Malaysia, many of whom have lived there for generations.

"This pandemic has brought out the worst in some with open displays of xenophobia against outsiders who are perceived to be the cause of the virus," wrote Ariane Jeffrey and Thomas Daniel, analysts from think tank the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia.

"It is crucial to remember that 'Malaysian first' does not and should not mean throwing the less fortunate non-Malaysians under the bus."

A majority of neighbouring Singapore's rapidly growing new cases have been among low-paid, foreign workers who live in crowded dormitories.

Spurred by sensationalist reporting from some local media outlets, many Malaysians have recently taken to social media to claim that Rohingya and other foreigners are not observing the country's lockdown arrangements, known locally as the movement control order.

One Malaysian anti-Rohingya petition seen by the ABC had gathered almost 20,000 signatures in 24 hours, before being taken down by administrators.

Rohingya activist Sharifah Shakirah is concerned about growing xenophobia against refugees in Malaysia. ( Supplied )

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia issued a statement this week, highlighting that refugees and migrant workers, along with people with disabilities and the homeless, were particularly vulnerable due to economic pressures created by COVID-19.

It called upon the Malaysian Government to do more to support soup kitchens and other initiatives supporting these vulnerable groups.

Syaedah, a Rohingya woman who lives with her husband and two children near Kuala Lumpur, arrived in Malaysia in 2000.

She told the ABC she was shocked by the volume of recent WhatsApp messages and Facebook posts calling for Rohingya people to return to "their country".

"I have never experienced this kind of thing in 20 years of living here," she said.

"We respect Malaysia and its people; they have helped us a lot."

The country is also home to around 3 million foreign workers, of whom up to half are thought to be irregular migrants, according to the World Bank.

A majority of these workers are from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines, and fill Malaysian labour shortages by taking undesirable, low-paid jobs.

The local chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation, told the South China Morning Post that up to a million Indonesian workers in Malaysia were going hungry because of forced unpaid leave.

Malaysia's large Rohingya community has established strong roots in the country. ( Supplied: International Catholic Migration Mission )

Ms Shakirah, who grew up in Malaysia and lives in the US, told the ABC that many Malaysians do not differentiate between refugees and migrant workers.

"Some of them still don't understand why Rohingyas are living in Malaysia, what is happening in Myanmar," she said.

"People are saying we should go home. They don't understand that the thing with Rohingya is that we cannot return home.

"If we do, we will be killed. We are facing genocide in Myanmar," she said.

COVID-19 crisis sees Rohingya turned away

Two Malaysian navy vessels escorted a boat carrying 200 Rohingya out of its territorial waters this week.

In a statement, the air force said that "with their poor settlements and living conditions … it is strongly feared that undocumented migrants who try to enter Malaysia either by land or sea will bring [COVID-19] into the country."

"Maritime surveillance operations will be intensified," it said.

This came after Bangladeshi authorities rescued a boat carrying 396 Rohingya, at least 32 of whom had died, which had failed to reach Malaysia.

"They were at sea for about two months and were starving," a Bangladesh coastguard official said.

Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen later declared that "our navy and coastguard are on alert and they have been instructed not to let these boats enter Bangladesh."

"No more Rohingya will be allowed in," he said.

The coast guard released this photo to media of the exhausted refugees receiving aid. ( Supplied: Bangladesh Coast Guard )

It has sparked fears of a repeat of the 2015 Andaman Sea Crisis, when around 8,000 Rohingya were stranded at sea by smugglers, killing hundreds.

A statement from the UN refugee agency this week said it was "increasingly concerned by reports of failure to disembark vessels in distress and of the grave immediate risk this poses to the men, women and children on board."

"In the context of the unprecedented current COVID-19 crisis, all states must manage their borders as they see fit," it said.

"But such measures should not result in the closure of avenues to asylum, or of forcing people to return to situations of danger."

Human Rights Watch said that "all countries, including Malaysia and Thailand, have the responsibility under international law to respond to boats in distress, enact or coordinate rescue operations within their search and rescue operations, and not to push back asylum seekers risking their lives at sea."

Rohingya accused of 'taking advantage' of Malaysia

A turnback policy appears to enjoy support among the Malaysian political elite, however.

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Even disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak, who when in power had been a staunch critic of Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya when in power, said that "Malaysia can no longer continue to be the main destination of this ethnic group".

"I believe Malaysia is one of the countries that has helped the most. But don't take advantage of our kindness," he wrote in a Facebook post.

Despite facing major corruption charges, Mr Najib remains a popular figure among many Malaysians.

Tengku Emma Zuriana, a volunteer for the European Rohingya Council, this week had an open letter published by a Malaysian news site in which she called for the Malaysian Government to reconsider pushing boats back to sea.

Ms Zuriana has since received a slew of threats and has been doxed by online trolls, according to Malaysian women's rights watchdog Empower.

"While these arguments float around that are more than hateful, then people lose their humanity and destroy humanity," said Anwar Ibrahim, a popular figure previously tipped to take over from former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

"As we guard our borders, we cannot let people die."

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