SUBANG: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak sent off a humanitarian mission to aid Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh this afternoon.
The mission, which departed from the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base here, comprised 12 personnel from the Armed Forces and Defence Ministry.
Six army personnel, a ministry officer and a 1Malaysia For Youth (iM4U) volunteer boarded an RMAF Airbus A400 military transport aircraft, which is also loaded with 12 tonnes of canned food, rice, biscuits, milk powder, hygiene products and water purification tablets among others.
They are expected to arrive in the evening at the Hazrat Shah Amanat Airport, which is located in the coastal seaport city Chittagong where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees had fled to.
The rest of mission team members will fly to Dhaka on a commercial flight this evening.
The mission is part of the “Negaraku Prihatin” campaign which focuses on spreading humanitarian awareness. The team had received permission from the Bangladeshi government to deliver the aid directly to the refugees.
In a simple yet meaningful ceremony, Najib led a prayer before the takeoff and conveyed his words to members of the mission.
He was accompanied by Armed Forces General Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor.
The prime minister also inspected the plane to ensure that all is well and good.
Najib said the mission was necessary due to the ongoing and prolonged atrocities suffered by the Rohingya people who endured horrific cruelty, including rape and murder.
“We cannot let the Bangladesh government (alone) shouldering the burden of sheltering the increasing number Rohingya refugees.
“We have been informed that they (Bangladeshi government) have taken in more than 350,000 Rohingya refugees,” he told reporters.
Najib also that he would try to highlight the issue with United States, during his upcoming working visit to Washington on Sept 12, where he is scheduled to meet US president Donald Trump.