Refugees may be allowed to formally work soon with new policy

Mohammad Ali Hanifa, 35, almost died when Myanmar soldiers shot at him and his family members in 2010. But he has never felt more desperate than he is now when he thinks about his pregnant wife.

“Every day, I think, I worry,” he said in halting Malay. On his right bicep, an ugly dark spider-like scar stood testament to his ordeal.

A Myanmar Muslim, he fled sectarian violence in the southeastern part of the country after soldiers killed his brother and three cousins. He was shot in the arm and survived. Soon after, he made his way to Malaysia with his wife. Several charities helped pay for the hospital costs when his wife delivered their first child.

Now, she is pregnant with their second child and he has no idea how he is going to pay for his wife’s pre- and postnatal care, the baby’s birth, his elder child’s education at the Pelangi Kasih Learning Centre in Selayang, Selangor, and keep a roof over their heads. So far, his wife has not been able to see a doctor.

He told Bernama he has been trying to...