Kuala Lumpur: An Amanah MP has called for a clear government policy and guidelines to regulate the Rohingya community in Malaysia, following complaints of crime and refugee settlements disturbing the peace of local residents.
Debating the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat today, Suhaizan Kaiat (PH-Pulai) said more than 200 Rohingya refugee families in his constituency have started a settlement in the squatters left behind by local residents who have moved to people’s housing projects.
“They have set up a Rohingya settlement with its own electricity and water supply, sundry shops, restaurants and madrasahs without any form of regulation.
“They move freely with vehicles of their own. They dispose of their trash as they please, especially in the nearby river. Their presence threatens the lives of Malaysians,” he said.
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“At the end of January this year, 86,490 refugees and asylum seekers were registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia. Of this total, 108,310 were Rohingya refugees.
“These UNHCR refugees should have been handed over to a third country, not be allowed to live forever in ours. Because no third country was willing to accept them, Malaysia has received them out of compassion.
“Clear guidelines are needed to manage them, so that the peace and harmony of Malaysians are not threatened,” he said.
The nation’s Rohingya refugees have come into the spotlight recently, with the immigration department busting a Rohingya migrant smuggling syndicate in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, late last month.
Immigration director-general Ruslin Jusoh said those arrested included “Ali”, a Rohingya man suspected to be the mastermind of a syndicate that smuggled in migrants from Myanmar and transported them to the federal capital using express buses to evade detection.
Recently, Malaysian Community Care Foundation chairman Halim Ishak also called on Putrajaya to deport Rohingya refugees, following reports of a human trafficking cartel.
He had said there was a need to distinguish between humanitarianism and safeguarding the country’s sovereignty when it came to Rohingya refugees, and that it was time to stop being so accommodating to them.
Halim was, however, criticised by former MP Charles Santiago and migrant rights activist Adrian Pereira, who said critics do not fully understand the plight of the Rohingya.
Pereira said Halim’s comments were misplaced, and that Malaysians have seemed to buy into a lot of misinformation about the Rohingya community.
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