COMMENT | The Rohingya presence in Malaysia is back in the media limelight, and, as usual, there is a general feeling of disdain among the locals toward this group of displaced people.

The reasons for this feeling are still the same. They are usually accused of crime, stealing jobs from the locals, and just general misconduct.

This resurrection of sentiments happens every year. It’s like a trend and I can even observe that from my writings.

I did a search on Malaysiakini for my own writings about the Rohingya, and the results show I have written about it almost every year since 2017.

I wrote about it twice in...