KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and its neighbouring Asean countries will bear the brunt of serious instability in the region if the grave situation in the Rakhine state in Myanmar is not adressed.
Foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said this in delivering Malaysia’s statement at the ‘Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Contact Group on the Rohingya Muslim Minority in Myanmar’ meeting held in New York.
“The precarious situation provides a fertile breeding ground for recruitment of extremists,” he said adding it is a well-known fact that the Islamic State is now seeking to make South East Asia and South Asia as its nest and bedrock.
As a member of Asean, Malaysia is ready to extend support and assist the Myanmar government to address the complex challenges, Anifah said.
Since the latest violence began on 25 August, more than 400,000 Rohingyas were forced to flee their homes and have crossed the border into Bangladesh.
“I would like to take this opportunity to commend the noble efforts of Bangladesh to address the plight of the Rohingyas. This has garnered wide international attention from many countries that have pledged humanitarian assistance.
Malaysia had also sent its first consignment of humanitarian aid which arrived in Chittagong on 9 September, and more will follow, he assured.
Anifah pointed pointed out, the eruption of violence was instigated by a militant group of the Rohingyas in Rakhine State and subsequent security operations have claimed many innocent civilian lives and displaced thousands of people.
“Malaysia is gravely concerned at the indiscriminate violence perpetrated against the Rohingyas during these security operations,” he said adding the response has resulted in a full-scale humanitarian crisis.
“The violence there has sparked large movements of people into neighbouring countries. It is for this reason Malaysia calls upon the Government of Myanmar to stop the military action immediately and allow unimpeded access for the delivery of the humanitarian aid.
“We also call on State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi for the immediate implementation of all the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State that was chaired by Kofi Annan,” said Anifah who is in New York heading the Malaysian delegation in the 72nd United Nations General Assembly.
He stressed the Myanmar government must ensure the return of internally displaced persons and restore the status of the Rohingyas since the revocation of their rights in 1982 without reservation and to ensure the unjustifiable statelessness be reversed.
“We must act now. We must move beyond rhetorics. We must save lives. We must ensure that the ancestor land of the Rohingyas is restored.”