Conditional Support for Palestinian ‘Refugees’ in Malaysia

In early October, a video circulated on social media showing several Palestinians in Malaysia making a scene at a federal holding facility, yelling at local authorities and breaking furniture. A more egregious incident occurred in early January 2025 at the same facility, with some Palestinians breaking more furniture and starting a bonfire to protest the slow processing of their return to Egypt.

The Palestinians are in Malaysia based on a promise that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made back in August, when he agreed to bring over a hundred injured Palestinians and their family members for medical care due to the strong likelihood of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The problem is that more than a year after Hamas’ historic attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, domestic support in Malaysia for the Palestinians has fallen. Increasingly, some Muslim Malaysians associate the Palestinians with the same social and economic ills that they allege Rohingyas before them have laid on the country. Some Muslim Malays have even said that attempts to situate Palestinians in Malaysia would be tantamount to denying them the right to martyrdom.

As Malaysia does not officially recognise the status of refugees, they were placed in a holding facility and not allowed to leave as they lacked legal documents. The Palestinians in the videos were frustrated by the lack of updates on their medical care, the inability to keep in touch with their family members in Gaza, and not being allowed to leave the facility. All these uncertainties created anxiety and emotional distress to those who have endured the ongoing occupation and genocide for decades.

Both videos quickly went viral and resulted in a huge drop in public support for Palestinian refugees, particularly among the Malay community, who, as we wrote about earlier this year, were not in favour of bringing in these refugees. This disdain for refugees was rooted in long grievances over other refugees, more recently the Rohingyas, whom Malaysians blame for many social ills and straining national welfare and infrastructure. Furthermore, the refugee presence is deemed a threat to local demographics, especially when they tend to stay in Malaysia for a long time due to a lack of durable solutions.

In response, the Palestinian ambassador told other refugees to be thankful or risk being sent back. A video from one of the women involved in the viral incident was released, where she apologised for losing her composure after losing three of her children in Gaza. The government is also planning to send some Palestinians back at their request. This was done to assuage a now hostile public to allow these refugees to stay. The foreign minister even indicated that those brought in for treatment were reluctant to leave Palestine and wanted to be sent back after treatment, maintaining their image as Palestinian defenders who do not fear death.

Historically, Malaysia has always espoused strong support for Palestine, going so far as to establish diplomatic relations with Hamas and denying diplomatic relations with Israel. This was echoed by the majority Muslim public, who poured millions of ringgit into aid for Palestine for decades and sent aid missions to Gaza and the West Bank. The aid sent was seen as a consistent commitment to fulfil both religious and humanitarian duties.

After 7 October 2023, the government renewed its support for Palestine while the public boycotted McDonalds and Starbucks. The boycott impacted the revenue of both these companies. Several rallies were held to show Malaysia’s solidarity with Palestine.

For some Muslim Malays, Palestinians who leave Gaza are seen as abandoning the fight and not worth supporting. This echoes similar arguments about Rohingya refugees who should stay behind to fight the military junta in Myanmar.

Despite all these efforts, civil society has been critical of the government and public’s support for Palestine in comparison with Rohingya, because of the preferential treatment for Palestinians over other refugees and the still fundamentally performative manner of support. In one rally for Palestine, organisers prevented Palestinian refugees from speaking (on the grounds they were not approved). The government also arrested pro-Palestine protesters for demonstrating in front of the US embassy and continued to do business with companies associated with Israel, such as BlackRock.

Moreover, some activist voices online drew attention to the fact that the Malaysian government had not ratified the UN Refugee Convention, which denied many refugees legal status in the country. Malaysia’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute in 2019 also hampered any formal challenge to Israeli leaders’ actions at the International Criminal Court. This challenge by activists was met with immense backlash from predominantly Muslim Malays who said they were denying the Palestinians the right to martyrdom and causing undue stress to Malaysia’s socio-economic structure by housing them.

For some Muslim Malays, Palestinians who leave Gaza are seen as abandoning the fight and not worth supporting. This echoes similar arguments about Rohingya refugees who should stay behind to fight the military junta in Myanmar. The two incidents of Palestinians protesting at the transit facility in October last year and January this year made the Malaysian public view them as “ungrateful”. Furthermore, the public thinks the government should prioritise domestic issues pertaining to local Malaysians instead of helping non-citizens.

In essence, the same arguments laid against Rohingyas have been applied to the Palestinians. The shift in support happened within days, and some social media users were openly stating they were abandoning the boycotts, with one TikTok influencer making a video to justify abandoning the boycott with thousands of positive engagements.

Over a year since 7 October 2023, weariness has grown over the prolonged engagement and support at a distance. This fracas with the refugees appearing to be a clear breach of gratitude would ominously be a reason for Malaysians to jump off the pro-Palestine movement and associate the beleaguered people with anti-migrant rhetoric.

The gesture shown by the Malaysian government begs critical reflection on the treatment of refugees living in this country without legal status and thus deprived of dignified lives and livelihoods. Furthermore, the Malaysian public sees the government’s apathy and lack of action to help the struggles of refugees as validation of their anti-refugee (and anti-migrant) beliefs.

The government needs to change its stance on refugees, including ratifying the UN Refugee Convention and improving public communication about how the government treats refugees so they can live dignified and respectful lives during their time in the country. The government needs to respect National Security Council Directive No. 23, which entails the rights of refugees to basic rights, including freedom of movement, work, education, and healthcare. As Malaysia is highly dependent on migrants, granting the right to work is the first step to ensure refugees become active agents and live in dignity.

2025/19