Umno man defends Penang CM against Zahid
Umno MP Reezal Merican sang a different tune from party vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi when he praised the Penang government for saying it will consider the proposal to build a refugee camp in the state.
Reezal said the fact that the state government is reviewing the proposal is enough to show its openness in trying to find a solution to the ongoing crisis, which may see Malaysia as temporary home to thousands of fleeing Rohingya people.
Umno MP Reezal Merican sang a different tune from party vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi when he praised the Penang government for saying it will consider the proposal to build a refugee camp in the state.
Reezal said the fact that the state government is reviewing the proposal is enough to show its openness in trying to find a solution to the ongoing crisis, which may see Malaysia as temporary home to thousands of fleeing Rohingya people.
“If the new reports are true, then the Penang chief minister’s approach of wanting to first review the federal proposal is something I welcome.
“It’s true that we differ on various issues, but CM Lim Guan Eng’s openness on the issue of Rohingya refugees is lauded,” Reezal ( photo ), the MP for Kepala Batas, said in a statement.
This comes after Zahid slammed Lim for not immediately committing to building a refugee camp in Penang.
“Now is not a time to play the power card and show our egos as leaders. Put that aside and look at the humanitarian aspect of the crisis.
“The Rohingya are in a desperate state, and face an even more difficult situation at home,” Reezalsaid.
Lim: Penang is densely-populated
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar proposed that a camp be set up in Penang due to its strategic location, as the migrants are in vessels heading towards the northern beaches.
A total of 1,158 boat people who landed at the Kedah island of Langkawi – a short ferry ride away from Penang - on May 11 have been placed in immigration detention centres in Sik, Kedah.
Lim was quoted by The Star as saying that the state is “struggling to figure out where in Penang he (Khalid) has in mind” as the state is “too densely populated to be suitable”.
Instead, Lim said the federal government should provide land for this, adding that Penang already houses 50,000 refugees.
Similarly, Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir said Kedah does not have the resources to set up resettlement camps for thousands of refugees.
Malaysia initially refused to allow the estimated 7,000 migrants adrift in shoddy vessels to land, but agreed to be a transit country for a year after international pressure.
The crisis comes amid the discovery of mass graves, said to be of human trafficking victims, on the Thai-Malaysian border, prompting a regional crackdown.
They alleged human smugglers reportedly abandoned their human cargo mid-sea amid the crackdown.
Malaysian authorities yesterday found more mass graves , this time in Perlis, with abandoned human smuggling camps it believes have been in operation for five years .
The Rohingya, a Muslim community in Myanmar, are fleeing their home state due to persecution in the largely Buddhist country.
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