Rohingya issue needs more than ‘cosmetic’ response, says MP

DAP’s Kasthuriraani Patto also says the PM’s recent remarks on the subject have been “wishy-washy” and show a lack of commitment.

KUALA LUMPUR: Batu Kawan MP Kasthuriraani Patto said today that the government’s answers on the issue of the Rohingya boat people had so far been only “cosmetic” in nature, and therefore meaningless.

“The answers that the government is aware, sympathises and is doing what it can are all cosmetic. It is shameful, given the recent Asean Summit Malaysia hosted. The summit becomes insignificant now,” Kasthuriraani said at a press conference outside Parliament.

The DAP politician also criticised Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah, the Chairman of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), for his silence.

“This is a human rights issue,” she said. “So why hasn’t Shafee Abdullah made a comment?”

She also described Prime Minister Najib Razak’s recent comments on the subject as “wishy-washy”, saying that they showed a lack of commitment to the issue.

“Right now nobody knows how many refugees are at sea. There are no answers, only questions,” she added. “I feel that at this level there needs to be a bipartisan committee to handle the human rights issue especially that of the Rohingyas.”

Also at the press conference was Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) MP for Sungai Siput Jeyakumar Devaraj, who said the issue of the Rohingyas must be discussed in Parliament as soon as possible and not left to Putrajaya’s sole discretion.

The MP also criticised Dewan Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia for rejecting his motion that an hour be dedicated this evening to discuss the issue in Parliament.

The Speaker’s official reply was that the government was “making continuing efforts to handle this humanitarian crisis through diplomatic channels and discussions at the Asean and international level”, and that the issue therefore did not need to be immediately discussed.

“I think this (the Speaker’s answer) does not respect Parliament as well,” he said

He recalled a statement Najib made sometime ago to the effect that the age of the government knowing best was over.

The boat people issue, he said, needed to be discussed openly.

“We don’t want to slam the government,” he said. “We want to discuss the issue and ask what we can do.”

Jeyakumar went on to point out that the issue was more complex than implied by the label “human trafficking”.

“They are trafficked because they are running from one situation where they are being persecuted and threatened. They are not just coming to look for work. They are refugees,” he said.

“And until now, Malaysia does not have a category for refugees. We group them under PATI – pendatang asing tanpa izin (illegal immigrants).

“We need a new scope to manage those like the Rohingyas, who are forced to flee. They don’t have documents. They run here to save their own lives.”

He questioned Malaysia’s and Asean’s careful approach of not touching upon the continuing violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar.

“The way that we’re handling it now and our talk about sending them back brings a negative image of Malaysia and Asean,” he said.

“This is why I’m disappointed with the stand taken by the Speaker to block us from bringing this issue for discussion.”

PSM has previously urged the government to allow the estimated 8,000 Rohingya refugees at sea to come ashore while negotiations take place on resolving the crisis.