Malaysia ‘cannot avoid’ humanitarian duties towards Rohingya - Mapim
Despite facing limited resources, the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisation (Mapim) said Malaysia cannot avoid its humanitarian responsibilities towards the Rohingya refugees.
Even so, it said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should push Asean to seek a solution to Myanmar's Rakhine crisis and the alleged persecution of the Rohingya.
Despite facing limited resources, the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisation (Mapim) said Malaysia cannot avoid its humanitarian responsibilities towards the Rohingya refugees.
Even so, it said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should push Asean to seek a solution to Myanmar's Rakhine crisis and the alleged persecution of the Rohingya.
“Malaysia’s capacity is limited. However, when faced with an urgent situation involving human lives, especially women and children, saving their lives cannot be avoided.
“Even if Malaysia is not a signatory of the Refugee Convention 1951 or the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, we are of the opinion Malaysia cannot avoid its humanitarian responsibilities.
“We agree that Muhyiddin raised the issue of smuggling, human trafficking and slavery.
“As such, (the act of) attacking and containing to deter and punish human trafficking syndicates that exploit refugee victims must be tackled at the Asean level,” Mapim president Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid (below) said in a statement.
During the 36th Asean Summit, Malaysia, led by Muhyiddin, said Malaysia can no longer take more refugees as its resources and capacity is stretched, especially in view of the global health crisis.
As such, he called on United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to work closely with Asean to expedite the resettlement process of refugees to third countries and for Asean to find an effective solution for the Rakhine state crisis.
Even so, Azmi expressed disappointment that the Rohingya plight was not adequately discussed during the virtual Asean Summit, hosted by Vietnam and held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the summit should have discussed ending the alleged persecution of the Rohingya and for Myanmar to declare the community as citizens.
“Muhyiddin should have asked Asean to focus on pushing member countries to pressure Myanmar to solve the issue based on international laws.
“We feel the prime minister’s statement is reasonable, but there are more important things such as carrying out our humanitarian responsibilities even if we have to sacrifice a small number of national resources,” Azmi added.
The Rohingya are a Muslim-minority group in Myanmar. However, hundreds of thousands have fled into neighbouring Bangladesh and across the seas to other countries in the region, including Malaysia, to escape alleged religious persecution by Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
The latter has denied the claims and does not recognise the Rohingya as citizens.
Malaysia is home to the second-largest number of Rohingya refugees after Bangladesh. However, Covid-19 health and economic strain have led to growing anti-Rohingya sentiment in the country.
The Malaysian government has been seeking to return Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh or is appealing to third countries to take the refugees in.
