Malaysian PM urged to address Rohingya crisis

Source theSundaily, 22 April

Rohingya Muslims are fleeing Burma in their thousands to escape persecution. Pic: AP.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak must use his influence as the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to address the humanitarian crisis of the Rohingya in Myanmar at the 26th Asean Summit to be held here.

Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) chairman Charles Santiago said Malaysia has the moral responsibility to raise the issue as Malaysia was one of the countries which promoted Myanmar to be included into Asean.

Speaking at a press conference here today, Santiago, who is the Klang MP, said Malaysia should also provide for the children of Rohingya refugees in the country to receive basic rights such as going to school and healthcare services as an example to other nations having these refugees.

Early this month, APHR MPs travelled to Myanmar to see the situation of the Rohingya.

Their findings and that of an independent research by human rights organisations were compiled into an APHR report on the Rohingya crisis which was released today.

APHR, a human rights intervention force of like-minded parliamentarians and influential persons, was founded in 2013 to protect the human rights of the Asean people.