KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 — Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said Malaysia had no choice but to turn away a boat carrying 200 Rohingya recently as the country had "far exceeded” its capacity to host any more refugees.

The Star reported the former Negri Sembilan mentri besar, popularly known as Tok Mat, saying, "Receiving the Rohingya at times like this could open the floodgates for more foreign nationals and vessels to approach the Malaysian border and therefore hinder the government’s effort to fight Covid-19.”

He was responding to a Human Rights Watch report on Saturday about Malaysia's refusal to allow the refugees from entering Malaysian territorial waters after their boat arrived on Friday.

However, Tok Mat also said the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) needs to start engaging with Myanmar to allow the Rohingya the right to return and peacefully live in Rakhine state, as their plight can no longer be ignored.

He described the issues as a "regional humanitarian crisis of global importance” and added that Malaysia "has continued to host those who were already present in the country.”