Dhaka riots: Wisma Putra accused of being slow to shelter students

• UPDATED 7.14PM | Added student disputing Wisma Putra's statement, claims no officers had reached out to them.

Wisma Putra is under fire for allegedly being slow to shelter Malaysian students in Bangladesh amid a violent crackdown on protests in the capital.

This was after the Foreign Ministry and the Malaysian High Commission in Dhaka only seemingly moved students to safety after a social media storm.

Bangladeshi students have been protesting against unfair government job quotas. The protests turned violent on Monday, and the crackdown and subsequent clashes have killed over 100 people thus far.

On Thursday, Wisma Putra issued a statement saying it had gathered students at the High Commission “for safety and further directives”.

However, the High Commission did not appear to keep the students there.

“In response to the evolving situation, the High Commission is exploring possible solutions including assisting travel arrangements to return to Malaysia and temporary shelters,” Wisma Putra had said.

Not enough money to evacuate?

Activist Shakila Zen - who raised the alarm on the situation the students were facing - said one of the students had informed her that the High Commission was unable to shelter them.

“According to my friend (in Bangladesh), they were told to return to their accommodation because there were no facilities or finances to accommodate them.

“Students who went to the High Commission were told to go back to their hostels,” she told Malaysiakini.

On Friday, Wisma Putra said it helped to evacuate two students and placed another group in temporary accommodation.

However, come Saturday, not all Malaysian students in Dhaka were in safe locations.

At around 12pm on Saturday, Shakila raised the alarm on X after one of the students contacted her.

The student alleged that the High Commission had told them it did not have enough money to evacuate all Malaysian students.

Shakila told Malaysiakini that her contact had not yet been given shelter, and hence began contacting social media influencers to raise awareness about their situation.

Her posts quickly went viral.

Five hours later, Wisma Putra issued a press statement saying Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan had ordered that Malaysian students be relocated to the High Commission and official residence to accommodate them.

Today, it said students affected by the riots had been relocated.

It is not clear when Mohamad issued the directive.

As of this evening, Shakila said a student in Bangladesh had contacted her and disputed Wisma Putra's latest statement, telling her that no officers had reached out to them, nor had they been gathered at the embassy for shelter.

Same mistakes from Kyiv repeated

However, an aide to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim posted on X that he had been sharing Shakila’s tweets to Wisma Putra for further action since Saturday.

Adding fuel to speculation about Wisma Putra’s tardiness was its decision to only activate its operations room today.

When asked why Malaysian students were not kept at the High Commission when they gathered there on Thursday, a Wisma Putra spokesperson pointed Malaysiakini to Saturday’s statement.

Countries like Nepal, Bhutan, and India began evacuating their students out of Bangladesh days ago.

Wisma Putra’s response in Dhaka has drawn comparisons with its inaction in evacuating Malaysians from Kyiv in 2022 when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out.

READ MORE: Report: Malaysian diplomats flee Kyiv, evacuation described as 'cluster f***'

A former Wisma Putra officer who spoke to Malaysiakini on the condition of anonymity said the same mistakes from Kyiv were being repeated and that there appeared to be an absolute failure in preparing for an emergency in Dhaka.

The former officer cited how there were no preparations made for students to communicate with the embassy after the Bangladesh government began shutting down communication services.

“Why did the embassy neglect to provide a line to the students and have them transported?

“You should know when telecommunications are compromised, the likelihood of risk increasing multiplies.

“Where were they (students) going to go? How were they going to stay in touch with the right people? With pigeons?” the source said.

The former officer added that it also did not look good that Wisma Putra appeared to only take serious action after the matter was made viral on social media.

M'sia considering evacuation if Bangladesh riots escalate

Bangladesh orders probe into fraud against M'sia-bound workers

Law firm: Consent ruling in Bangladeshi politician case is good progress

My life, safety at risk if deported - Bangladeshi politician