SANDAKAN – At least 20 people belonging to the Palauh community, a nomadic sea people native to the region, have been denied treatment at Lahad Datu Hospital in Sabah as they were unable to afford the medical services.
This comes in the wake of a Health Ministry circular preventing public hospitals in the state from providing medical attention to “foreigners” who cannot foot their bills, a medical official has claimed.
He told The Vibes that he witnessed members of the mostly undocumented seafaring community, who are also known as Bajau Laut, being refused treatment since he began working there in March 2020.
The circular involving the ministry’s Fee Order Implementation Guidelines for Medical and Service Costs was released in 2014 but only came into force on April 8, 2019.
He said the circular basically directs hospitals to refuse treatment to foreigners who cannot pay their medical bills.
The official said the circular was suddenly strictly imposed early this year.
According to him, the Palauh people are not able to pay for medical treatment from the get-go when they arrive at the hospital.
“There are three tiers of payment that they (non-citizens) need to pay, starting from registration fees, which alone cost RM100, followed by medical diagnostic fees (X-rays, blood tests, etc) to determine their health problems, and that could cost up to RM1,000.
“Finally, the third tier covers the costs for treatment and ward stays,” he said, stressing that many of the Palauh people did not even have enough for the registration.
According to him, only Lahad Datu Hospital is strict about the second diagnostic tier, while this is not so in other public hospitals like in Tawau, Semporna, and Likas.
“For most cases, even after patients pay RM100, it is difficult for doctors to treat the patients if they cannot conduct any tests on them.
“So patients end up being released even before they are treated,” he said.
MMA, Suhakam alerted to plight
In one instance, a 30-year-old Palauh man named Icik Batum who arrived at the emergency room with a swollen testicle recently was only given a painkiller and left on the side of the road at the hospital compound moaning in excruciating pain as he could not afford the registration fee, the official alleged.
He said that a surgeon who was approached then allowed Icik to stay in a ward for two days.
The official said he had also reached out to the Malaysian Medical Association and was informed that hospital directors can waive hospital bills in special cases. However, this did not happen with the cases involving the Palauh people.
It is understood that police reports have been lodged on the cases, in an attempt to plead to the Health Ministry and Sabah Health Department to act on such incidents.
At the same time, the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) had also been informed of the matter, he said.
As seafaring nomads, the Palauh people traditionally live in boats on the sea most of their lives near Semporna, where the sea is their primary source of sustenance and income.
They are categorised as stateless, and according to the United Nations are not considered nationals by any state under the operation of law.
The official shared that since witnessing the fate of the Palauh community, he has been actively involved in outreach programmes with the help of the Tzu Chi International Medical Association.
“Something must be done or they will never be treated humanely and have access to healthcare for many years to come,” he added.
Health Department seeks to verify first
The Vibes has contacted the Sabah Health Department director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin for comments.
She said no individual from Lahad Datu has ever reached out to her regarding the issue.
“I have received no notifications from doctors there over such incidents,” she said.
Asked if she was aware of the issue, she said she needs to know the individual making the claims and verify the case before she can respond further.
The issue echoes the long-standing problem of indigenous people who are not only undocumented and rendered stateless, but are not accorded basic facilities and services as they do not earn money while subsisting through their traditional means.
The situation arises as a result of refugee migration, the arrival of undocumented migrants from the southern Philippine islands, as well as poverty and lack of education leading to the failure to register marriages and births.
The Vibes recently reported about a Palauh father who lost his son in a crocodile attack while they tried to flee from the Lahad Datu market, for fear of being rounded up by law enforcement officers, by jumping into the sea.
The man, named Morehat, 45, is seen in a video choking with emotion as he recalls what had happened.
The clip has stirred anger here, as the person recording it can be heard saying in a mix of Bahasa Malaysia and Bajau: “Who asked you to run? Now you’ve been attacked by a crocodile” and “Who cares” while Morehat expresses anguish.
The CSO Platform for Reform (Sabah chapter), which is part of the coalition of 100 civil society organisations in the country, has since called on the relevant authorities to take action to ensure children no longer live in fear of the authorities due to the discrimination towards them as non-citizens in Malaysia. – The Vibes, December 9, 2022
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