Malaysia

In February 2020, the Pakatan Harapan coalition government collapsed, with members from two of the coalition parties defecting to form a new alliance with two parties defeated in the 2018 election, UMNO and the Islamic party PAS. The rights of ethnic minorities, the LGBT community, and other marginalized groups are at risk in the face of rights-restricting laws, a police force with a history of abuse and impunity, and ultra-conservative Islamists in the new governing coalition. The government has used the Covid-19 pandemic to justify turning away boatloads of Rohingya refugees and rounding up hundreds of undocumented workers.