Despite non-consensual support of ASEAN, Malaysia has taken the plight of the Rohingya on it's own to the United Nation and getting the support of the Organisation of Islamic Countries, European Union, United States and Russia.
Foreign Minister, Dato Anifah Aman is expected to table a resolution at the United Nation General Assembly at 8 PM New York tonight (around 8 AM Saturday in Malaysia). Yesterday, NST reported:
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is expected to highlight the plight of the ethnic minority Rohingya in the Rakhine state at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (72nd UNGA).
It will be among the highlights to be brought to the attention by Malaysia's Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman who will deliver Malaysia's National Statement at the UNGA meet.
In a statement today, Wisma Putra said during the assembly in New York from today to Sept 26, Anifah would also highlight the question of Palestine, developments in the Korean Peninsula, elimination of nuclear weapons, Global Movement of Moderates and UN reform initiative.
This action is taken following the frustration with ASEAN. In The Star Online, Anifah expressed frustration with the attitude of the Myanmar government.
Asean is no longer able to handle the issue of the Rohingya persecution in Myanmar, says Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.One argument of one of the member country was to maintain the policy of non-interference.
He said Asean had failed to address the issue efficiently so Malaysia will instead continue to raise the issue at the United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
“Within Asean, I have given up hope. We had seven meetings, and Malaysia expressed our concerns to Myanmar and they (Myanmar) promised to address the concern.
“Until today, nothing has been done. Therefore, Malaysia may raise it at other levels, like the United Nations and OIC,” ...
Howevevr, there seemed to be a line demarcating the views of the countries of ASEAN between those with high population of Buddhist being defensive of Myanmar against the Muslim populated members.
The main consideration should be human rights and dignity.
At the second Asean Ministerial Meeting on Radicalisation and Violent Extremism (AMMRVE), Deputy Prime Minister, Dato Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi indirectly took ASEAN to task in his address, which basically said enough is enough.
NST reported:
... Zahid questioned Myanmar's blockade of humanitarian aid by international organisations from being delivered to the Rohingya.IS inflitration
"Myanmar's security forces are killing even women and children without pity.
"These are humans. These people are not animals. We may have our differences, but we have to stand together on humanitarian grounds.
"If you are really a democratic country as you say you are, then you should not stand in the way of humanitarian aid," said Zahid, in the presence of the Myanmar delegation.
Malaysia has adopted a tough stance on the violence inflicted on Myanmar's Rohingya community on the Rakhine State.
Not only is the concern humanitarian, it is believed that IS terrorist have inflitrated the Rohingya. The Malaysian Insight reported on Anifah's concern:
THE precarious situation of the Rohingya in Rakhine must be addressed urgently before it becomes a fertile breeding ground for extremists, says Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.
Anifah said this fear could manifest as the Islamic State (IS) was seeking to make inroads into Southeast Asia and South Asia, and would have no qualms taking advantage of the crisis.
“Should this happen, Malaysia and neighbouring countries would bear the brunt of serious instability to the region,” he said during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Contact Group’s session on the Rohingya Muslim Minority in Myanmar, at the United Nations General Assembly building in New York yesterday.
Anifah reiterated Malaysia’s commitment to extending support and assisting the Myanmar government in addressing the complex challenges in Rakhine, but that the latter must also do its part by curbing military action and allowing unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“We urge the government of Myanmar to ensure the return of all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) with safety and dignity to Rakhine State, including the restoration of their status since the revocation of their rights in 1982,” he said.
Anifah said Malaysia also called on Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to implement the recommendations of the nine-member Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which was chaired by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.Singapore's Channel News Asia reported:
The findings of the commission stated that the Myanmar government must scrap restrictions on movement and citizenship of the Rohingya to avoid fuelling “extremism”.
For years, Myanmar’s Rohingya ethnic minority eschewed violence, fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh and other Southeast Asian countries each time the country’s military threatened them.
That was until October 2016, when a ragtag insurgent group armed with machetes and crude weapons calling themselves Harakah Al-Yaqin (HAY), or Faith Movement, staged two attacks on police posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, killing nine policemen and making off with 62 firearms.
“They (Rohingya) had been very, very patient in dealing with a very unjust situation … they had not resorted to arms for a very long time - until October last year,” said political scientist Chandra Muzaffar, president of the Kuala Lumpur-based International Movement for a Just World (JUST).
“Other ethnic minorities like the Karens, Kachins … they resorted to taking up arms against the government a long time ago,” Chandra added.
The Karens have been fighting for an independent state since 1949, while the Kachins have been fighting since 1961. Both groups have signed ceasefires which are regularly broken.
Sometime this year, HAY rebranded itself as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), led by Attullah Abu Amar Jununi.
On Aug 25, ARSA staged a second and bigger attack targeting 30 police posts in Rakhine, killing 12 members of the security forces. The attack involved about 150 to 200 militants in a pre-dawn raid.
The military responded with a ferocious crackdown, sending 420,000 Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh. The violence has resulted in the deaths of 400 people.
Myanmar’s government promptly declared ARSA a terrorist organisation....
The chorus of global outcry can be heard around the world. NST reported:
WORLD leaders have rallied by taking a strong stance against the atrocities committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority group.
Coming on the heels of the issue being raised by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during his recent meeting with Donald Trump, the United States (US) president has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take “strong and swift action” to end violence against the Rohingya.
French President Emmanuel Macron labelled it “genocide” in his condemnation of continued atrocities in Myanmar, while British Prime Minister Theresa May and Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani also joined in the chorus of criticism to put UNSC under increasing pressure to step in and address the genocide against the Rohingya.
Najib had in December last year led a protest in Kuala Lumpur against what he called a “genocide” of Myanmar’s Rohingya. He urged Asian neighbours and the world to step up the pressure to stop the violence.
Kuala Lumpur, he then said, would send a strong message to Aung San Suu Kyi’s government that “enough is enough”.
Speaking at a Security Council meeting in New York on peacekeeping reform, US Vice-President Mike Pence declared the crisis a threat to the world.
Pence accused the Myanmar military of responding to militant attacks on government outposts “with terrible savagery, burning villages, driving the Rohingya from their homes”.
“Unless this violence is stopped, which justice demands, it will only get worse. And, it will sow the seeds of hatred and chaos that may well consume the region for generations to come and threaten the peace of us all,” Pence said.
“President Trump and I also call on the Security Council of the United Nations to take strong and swift action to bring this crisis to an end and bring hope and help to the Rohingya people in their hour of need,” he told the 15-member council.
Pence’s remarks were the strongest US government response yet to the violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State that began on Aug 25 and forced 420,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh, fleeing a military offensive the UN had branded ethnic cleansing.
The Wisma Putera FB statement is stern and uncompromising:
6.It is for this reason Malaysia calls upon the Government of Myanmar to stop the military action immediately and allow unimpeded access for the delivery of the humanitarian aid.
7.We urge the Government of Myanmar to ensure the return of all the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) with safety and dignity to Rakhine State, including the restoration of their status since the revocation of their rights in 1982. Those rights must be addressed without reservation. This is to ensure the Rohingya’s unjustifiable statelessness be reversed.
8.We also call on State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (Aung San Su Chi) for the immediate implementation of all the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State that was chaired by Kofi Annan.
9.Those perpetrators who had committed crimes against humanity must be held accountable and be brought to justice.
10.We must act now. We must move beyond rhetorics. We must save lives. We must ensure that the ancestor land of the Rohingyas is restored.
ASEAN may relent to a concerted pressure from the international community. And China, whose concern is with any millitary action near it's border, may have to interfere to avoid an international military action.
Nevertheless, Najib, who initiated the move to save the Rohingya, may have moved away from the non-interference policies of previous two administration. He proved he does not have to be loud and combative but firm through his actions.
NST reported:
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia has expressed its appreciation to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Malaysian government for raising its plight on the international stage.Compared to the non-stop tantrum, envy and in-denial of a previous leader coupled with the steadiness in facing the onslaught of criticism, Najib has elevated himself to be a man of a "man of leader" and the former reduced to "a child".
Its president, Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, said as the global community focused on the United Nations’ General Assembly sitting in New York, the organisation hoped that this would translate into the international community “taking action against Myanmar”.
“We appreciate the support to stop the genocide against our people. However, there is a lot more to be done by the international community to stop the atrocities.”
Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Universiti Malaysia Sabah Dr Lai Yew Meng said Najib had played a big part in garnering world leaders’ support for the Rohingya.
He said the meeting between Najib and United States President Donald Trump in Washington DC recently had touched on international security and the plight of the Rohingya.
Thus, he said, the call made by the US was a positive step towards finding a solution to the crisis.
It is only natural as one grew older to slowly revert to the second childhood phase.