Klang MP Charles Santiago said that if Najib were to wait any longer to come to a consensus with Myanmar, which denies the Rohingya citizenship and considers them illegal settlers from Bangladesh, it could result in the approximately 8,000 Rohingya refugees stuck at the Andaman sea to die from hypothermia or starvation.

“While Najib has the time to wait around for Myanmar to decide how it's going to respond to an
Asean solution to the Rohingya problem, the men, women, children and old people on rickety
boats face imminent death as the clock ticks,” he said in a statement today.

He pointed out that Malaysians have made it clear that the Rohingyas should be rescued and questioned Najib’s inaction as Asean chairman.

“As a person and head of state, what are you going to do for the Rohingya who are adrift at sea?
What are you going to do for the Rohingya, whose bodies may wash against our shores, if they
are not rescued now?” Santiago added.

National news agency Bernama reported Najib as saying yesterday that Malaysia must not be burdened with the “problem” of Rohingya refugees as it is an issue which needs to be addressed collectively by all Asean countries.

International newswire AFP reported that Myanmar has rejected Thailand’s call for a regional summit on the migrant crisis on May 29, saying it was not their problem.

UK paper Daily Mail’s news website Mail Online reported that Malaysian vessels turned away yesterday a boat full of migrants after it was pushed back out to sea by Thai navy, following an AFP report of Malaysia turning away Thursday two vessels carrying about 600 migrants off Penang and Langkawi.