On March 18, 2020, Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin declared the nationwide enforcement of the Movement Control Order to curb the spread of COVID-19. In September 2020, Malaysia entered the third wave of the outbreak. Active cases rose from 60 to more than 13,000. The government’s Ops Benteng stops illegal migrants, who are at high risk of bringing COVID-19 into Malaysia. This includes illegal Rohingya migrants, who enter Malaysia to flee persecution in their home country, Myanmar. There are approximately 150,000 Rohingya migrants in Malaysia and more are expected. This article examines the main reason behind the influx of Rohingya illegal migrants and discusses whether the Malaysian government should tighten its borders to safeguard against COVID-19. The government must prioritise its own citizens over the Rohingyas; the responsibility of managing this humanitarian disaster should be shared with other nations, particularly those party to the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951.

1. Introduction
2. The Rohingyas
3. Persecution
4. Humanitarian Disaster
5. Protecting Malaysia’s Frontiers
6. Conclusion

• Hazmi Rusli(Associate Professor at the Faculty of Syariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. LL.B./MCL (IIUM), Ph.D. in Law (Wollongong))
• Roman Dremliuga(Associate Professor at the School of Law, Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), Vladivostok, Russia. B.A.M./ M.S/Ph.D. in Law (FEFU))
• Wan Suhaili(Research Assistant at the Faculty of Syariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia)
• Nur Alia Farisha(Research Assistant at the Faculty of Syariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia)