Fled civil war in Myanmar, lost job to coronavirus and died in Malaysia: young mother’s suicide highlights refugees’ plight
- A young mother who fled civil war in Kachin jumped from a building in Kuala Lumpur after both she and her husband lost their jobs to the coronavirus
- It was the latest in a string of similar deaths and came a day before Malaysia, in defiance of a court order, deported over 1,000 people to Myanmar
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.”