KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 — Malaysia and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members have urged Myanmar to resolve its Rohingya issue as the association’s non-interference policy does not mean silence, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman has said.
Anifah also told local daily Utusan Malaysia’s Sunday edition, Mingguan Malaysia, that US Secretary of State John Kerry told him that America will provide financial aid to agencies such as the United Nations refugee agency, but the amount was not revealed.
“The Asean platform has been used by member states, including Malaysia, to voice their concerns and to urge the Myanmar government to play a more active role in resolving the humanitarian conflict in Rakhine,” Anifah was quoted saying in the interview published today.
“Malaysia will continue to push for the suffering of this ethnic group to end as quickly as possible,” he added.
Malaysia and Indonesia agreed Wednesday to provide humanitarian assistance to the 7,000 Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi migrants still adrift at sea, including offering temporary shelter, provided that the international community takes steps to repatriate them within a year.
International newswire AFP reported last Sunday that Asean’s non-interference policy has contributed to the migrant problem due to Southeast Asia’s failure to curb Myanmar’s abuse of the Rohingya who live in Rakhine, a Muslim ethnic minority group who is denied citizenship and suffers state-sanctioned discrimination.
