KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir suggested today that the international community campaign against the Myanmar government’s persecution of the Rohingya minority, similar to the anti-apartheid campaign in South Africa.
She said it is important to tackle the root cause of the refugees fleeing Myanmar, which is to end the persecution of the Rohingyas there.
“I’m just wondering whether there is a need to start an international campaign to pressure Burma, much like the anti-apartheid campaign that was used to pressure South Africa in the old days.
“Because I know the Rohingya are not on anybody’s agenda. I think there is a need to start this,” she said during the GMM-Proham roundtable table discussion “The Asean Humanitarian Crisis in the Seas of Southeast Asia: What are the Durable Solutions?”
The activist who has rallied Malaysians to supply aid to the refugees also suggested that “some sort of sanctions” could put pressure on the Myanmar government to stop persecuting the Rohingyas.
According to reports, an estimated 6,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar are adrift in the Andaman Sea and the Straits of Malacca abandoned by human traffickers, with little food and water.
It has been reported that about 1,000 of them had already reached Langkawi and are currently being processed by the government for a 14-day period before access will be given to non-governmental organisations.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he had ordered the navy to rescue thousands of migrants adrift at sea, although it is unclear if any more have been identified and reached Malaysian shores.
