Rohingya refugees in Klang Valley, Malaysia: permanent (im)mobility?

The COVID-19 pandemic had seen mobility being curtailed through regular and irregular ways. Refugees who do not possess any legal residency and rights, were simultaneously forcibly confined in and expelled in the name of public health and national sovereignty. The pandemic saw xenophobia and scrutiny on Rohingya refugees in Malaysia when boats were turned away from Malaysian waters and Rohingya were detained during the movement control orders. Rohingya in Malaysia are stuck in limbo with the increasing hostility from the public during the pandemic that continues thereafter. This paper seeks to address how Rohingya refugees experience temporality and navigate their (im)mobility in a protracted refugee situation. I argue that the UNHCR document, which used to provide protection, has become a tool to target Rohingya identity which violates their bodily autonomy and undermines their experiential sense of dignity. While Rohingya were confined during the pandemic, they were also expected to leave Malaysia through enforced (im)mobility. Therefore, Rohingya are hoping to be resettled to third countries for their future mobility. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Klang Valley, Peninsular Malaysia, I provide critical analysis on the temporality and immobility experienced by Rohingya both during and post COVID-19 pandemic.