Burma Campaign UK today called on the government of Malaysia to halt its planned handover of Rohingya refugees to the Burmese military, stating that playing refugee ping pong is not a solution to the crisis.
Malaysia has announced that it plans to hand 5,000 Rohingya refugees to the same military which is committing ongoing genocide against them. It is still not completely clear if the Burmese military has agreed.
Burma Campaign UK has launched a campaign calling on supporters and members of the public to email the government of Malaysia demanding they stop the handovers. The action is available on the Burma Campaign UK website here.
Malaysia is fully aware that it is not safe to hand over Rohingya refugees to the Burmese military. They continue to commit numerous human rights violations against the Rohingya including torture, executions, sexual violence, beheadings, forced labour and forced conscription, denial of citizenship, and no freedom of movement. Malaysia is sending the refugees back to a country where they will have no rights, no citizenship and face some of the most severe repression in the world.
The planned handover of Rohingya refugees to the Burmese military comes after rising anti-Rohingya hate-speech and prejudice against Rohingya refugees in Malaysia, fuelled in part by social media giants such as Facebook once again allowing their platform to be used to fuel hatred and violence against Rohingya.
“Instead of countering hate speech, the Malaysian government is pandering to it,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Playing refugee ping pong, handing Rohingya refugees to the Myanmar military at the same time as the Myanmar military pursues genocidal policies designed to force Rohingya to flee, is not a solution to this crisis.”
The Burmese military and Arakan Army are imposing genocidal policies against the Rohingya which are designed to make life so unbearable that it forces Rohingya to flee. This, combined with the policy of the government of Bangladesh to deliberately create harsh and unliveable conditions in Rohingya refugee camps, and large cuts in international aid to the refugees in Bangladesh, means more refugees seeking sanctuary in Malaysia is inevitable.
Burma Campaign UK is calling on the Malaysian government to halt the handovers, counter hate speech, and give sanctuary and protection to Rohingya refugees. Malaysia also needs to recognise that the Burmese military are the root cause of the crisis, and not part of the solution.
In a major diplomatic miscalculation, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has also invited the head of the Burmese military regime, General (Rtd) Min Aung Hlaing, to visit Malaysia. The invitation is a clear diplomatic bribe giving the military the perceived legitimacy they crave in return for agreeing to accept the refugees.
In August the Burmese military denied claims made by the government of Malaysia that they would accept the refugees, describing it as fake news, using racist language such as Bengalis to describe Rohingya, and accusing Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of giving out false information as part of an election campaign.
“The Malaysian government is putting the lives of thousands of Rohingya in danger for the sake of a few days of positive headlines, whilst at the same time preparing to roll out the red carpet for the head of the military which created this crisis in the first place,” said Mark Farmaner. “The Myanmar military will interpret the Malaysian government’s approach as weakness, and do everything it can to exploit that weakness.”
An example of Burmese military propaganda attacking Malaysia: https://x.com/kothu21600/status/2083507896030028241/photo/1
Burma Campaign UK has launched a public campaign calling on supporters and the public to email the government of Malaysia demanding they stop the handovers. The action is available on the Burma Campaign UK website here.