PAS MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa warns that the South-East Asia region may be turned into 'killing fields' based on religious hatred, conflict and ethnic cleansing if the Rohingya Muslims in Burma continue to be persecuted.

Speaking as the chairperson of the SEA Inter-Religious Dialogue for Peace - a regional inter-faith forum- Mujahid expressed hope that all communities can return to the very essence of their existence - to promote and practise peace and condemn killings in the name of religion.

penang pas penanti by-election 030509 mujahid yusuf rawa 02 Mujahid (l eft ) said the slaughter of thousands of Rohingya Muslims - out of the estimated 800,000 living in Burma, has "shattered" the hope of peaceful coexistence among the different faiths in the SEA community.

He urged the Asean community to take appropriate and swift action to stop the killing and expressed 'sadness" that Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suk Kyi has yet to make a strong statement on issue.

When reminded that Asean practises the principle of "non-interference" in the political affairs of its members, Mujahid said: "But this issue concerns the violation of human rights, this is a universal principle, and leaders cannot keep silent about it".

He was responding to recent clashes in the western Rakhine state between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya, which have left scores of people dead and over 30,000 displaced.

Mujahid said the Forum seeks the intervention of Asean, the International Islamic Organisation, United Nations and Red Cross to pressure the Burmese government into ending the violence and prevent civilians from "taking the law into their own hands".

Stateless Rohinyas had one once

"We also call on the religious authorities and the democratic institutions in Burma to interfere and initiate peace in the ethnic conflict so that the Rohingya Muslims can be accorded treatment based on human rights principles," he added, at a press conference in Penang today.

Mujahid said the Forum delegates are seeking a meeting with the Burmese government officials in an effort to promote inter-faith dialogues among the different communities and find a solution to the problem.

Burma consists of a large Buddhist population while the Rohingyas are a 'stateless' community, barred from Bangladesh, who, in the past, have worked with indigenous Arakanese Muslims to establish an independent Arakan State.

Neighbouring Muslim countries like Malaysia, Indonesia or Brunei are not prepared to let them in lest they pose or heighten economic and security threats.

This is despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of people from Burma, including more than 20,000 Rohingya refugees live in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the Forum''s secretary-general Shahril Harahap said no religion in the world endorses killing and murder of another human being, warning that the affliction against the Rohinya community may spread to other regions.

Shahril, who is based in Medan, said if the matter is not resolved soon, Muslims in other regions or neighbouring countries might rise up against Buddhists, now being perceived as the ones responsible for the persecution of the Rohingya.

"For example, in Indonesia, there are possibilities that some Muslim communities may put pressure on the Buddhists in the country. Buddhists here may be harmed by these developments" he said.

"We do not want to se South-East Asia, which is a region of peace as we have diverse communities, to turn into a conflict area. The violence in Burma on the Rohingya may lend the opportunity for this to happen," he warned.

'Pressure your gov't to halt violence against Rohingyas'