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Tag: Rohingya Muslims

  • Malaysia Ready To Provide Temporary Shelter For Rohingya Fleeing Violence; Coast Guard Will Not Turn The Away

    Malaysia Ready To Provide Temporary Shelter For Rohingya Fleeing Violence; Coast Guard Will Not Turn The Away

    Malaysia’s coast guard will not turn away Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar and is willing to provide temporary shelter for them, the maritime agency’s chief said on Friday.

    Rohingya insurgents attacked several police posts and an army base in Myanmar on Aug. 25. The ensuing clashes and a military counter-offensive has killed at least 400 people and triggered the exodus of more than 160,000 people to neighbouring Bangladesh.

    Malaysia, hundreds of km (miles) to the south on the Andaman Sea, is likely to see more boat people from Myanmar in coming weeks and months because of the renewed violence, said Zulkifli Abu Bakar, the director general of Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency. Malaysia is already home to over 100,000 Rohingya refugees.

    “We are supposed to provide basic necessities for them to continue their journey and push them away. But at the end of the day, because of humanitarian reasons, we will not be able to do that,” Zulkifli told Reuters, adding that no fresh refugees had been seen yet.

    Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation, will likely house the Rohingya refugees in immigration detention centres, where foreigners without documents are typically held, he said.

    Malaysia, which has not signed the U.N. Refugee Convention, treats refugees as illegal migrants.

    Thailand has also said it is preparing to receive people fleeing the fighting in Myanmar

    There are about 59,000 Rohingya refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia although unofficial numbers are almost double that.

    In 2015, mass graves were exhumed at jungle camps on the border between Thailand and Malaysia that were thought to be mainly Rohingya victims of human traffickers.

    (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

     

    Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Tutu: If The Political Price Of Your Ascension To The Highest Office In Myanmar Is Your Silence, The Price Is Surely Too Steep

    Tutu: If The Political Price Of Your Ascension To The Highest Office In Myanmar Is Your Silence, The Price Is Surely Too Steep

    South Africa’s outspoken Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Thursday (Sep 7) castigated Aung San Suu Kyi over the Myanmar government’s treatment of its Rohingya Muslims and urged her to intervene in the crisis.

    The United Nations on Thursday said that nearly 164,000 Rohingya have escaped to Bangladesh over the past two weeks in the wake of a massive security sweep and alleged atrocities by the country’s security forces and Buddhist mobs against the Rohingya.

    Aung San Suu Kyi, feted for her years of peaceful opposition to Myanmar’s military rulers, has been urged to speak up for the Rohingya, with Muslim nations and the UN leading condemnation of her government.

    Tutu, who helped dismantle apartheid in South Africa and became the moral voice of the nation, joined in the condemnation.

    “If the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep,” Tutu said in a statement.

    “It is incongruous for a symbol of righteousness to lead such a country; it is adding to our pain,” he said noting that “the images we are seeing of the suffering of the Rohingya fill us with pain and dread.”

    “As we witness the unfolding horror we pray for you to be courageous and resilient again … for you to speak out for justice, human rights and the unity of your people,” said Tutu.

    Witnesses in Myanmar’s Rakhine state say entire villages have been burned to the ground since Rohingya militants launched a series of coordinated attacks on Aug 25, prompting a military-led crackdown.

     

    Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com