Fled civil war in Myanmar, lost job to coronavirus and died in Malaysia: young mother’s suicide highlights refugees’ plight | South China Morning Post
▻https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3122990/fled-civil-war-myanmar-lost-job-coronavirus-and-died-malaysia
A day before Malaysia deported more than 1,000 people to Myanmar
in defiance of a court order and protests from human rights groups, a young mother worried about her illegal status killed herself by jumping from the first floor of her apartment building in Kuala Lumpur. The woman, who was not one of those targeted for Tuesday’s mass deportation, had fled civil war in Myanmar’s Kachin state. She is thought to have become depressed after both she and her husband lost their jobs to the coronavirus pandemic.Her death on Monday was the latest in a string of suicides by refugees and migrant workers from Myanmar to have occurred in Malaysia since the pandemic began.“The couple were facing money problems, had debts and she worried over her undocumented status,” said Nang Moon, who works with refugee groups and belongs to the Malaysia branch of the Myanmar political party National League for Democracy.“She is also believed to have been suffering from postpartum depression.”She estimated this was the 24th such suicide since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, though added, “We don’t know the exact figure.”La Seng, head of the Kachin Refugee Organisation in Malaysia, said the woman had been in Malaysia since 2014, was 28 years old and left behind a 3-month-old daughter. “Her husband is very depressed,” said La Seng.
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