Rohingya groups apologise, claims Zafar not their leader

A coalition of 17 Rohingya-linked groups based in Myanmar and Malaysia have distanced their community here from purported statements made by the president of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia, Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani.

According to their joint statement, the groups issued an apology to the Malaysian government and Malaysians in general for statements attributed to Zafar (photo) which had sparked "unprecedented negative sentiments among some Malaysians" against Rohingya refugees here.

"We, the Rohingya refugees, have never elected Zafar Ahmad as our president, he is not our leader. We have no leader in Malaysia and he has no right to issue statements on our behalf.

"Therefore, all Rohingyas are against such unrealistic and irresponsible statements," said the groups.

They did not refer to any specific remarks allegedly made by Zafar, although they urged that Malaysian authorities take action against him.

Among the undersigned groups include the Rohingya Association in Malaysia, the Rohingya Islamic Society in Malaysia, and Rohingya Youth Care Malaysia.

One of the contact person named in the statement, Muhammad Islam, later insisted that their only ties with Zafar were as a fellow Rohingya.

"We don't have any other ties with him. We don't support him at all," said Muhammad, a Rohingya refugee based in Malaysia since 1992.

Quizzed on the reason behind their joint statement, Muhammad claimed that Zafar could have been "receiving advise" from certain parties when speaking up on issues concerning the rights of Rohingya refugees in Malaysia.

The father-of-four, who married a Malaysian, also alluded to social media posts falsely attributed to Zafar which had gone viral.

He indicated no knowledge of Zafar's reported denial of the fake posts, saying instead: "Zafar can deny it himself."

On Friday, it was reported that Zafar has been forced to deactivate his Facebook account due to death threats and verbal abuse received, following the circulation of fake social media posts linked to him.

The fake posts quoted him as calling the Malays "stupid", demanding equal rights and Malaysian citizenship for Rohingya refugees.

He was also accused of questioning the Malaysian authorities over their refusal to accept boats ferrying Rohingya refugees.

On April 16, the Malaysian authorities prevented 200 Rohingya in a boat from entering the country illegally, although food was provided to all on humanitarian grounds.

They were detected 70 nautical miles west of Langkawi, 11 days after another group of over 200 Rohingya refugees landed on the island and kept in Covid-19 quarantine centres for 14-days.

On Monday, Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan warned that receiving Rohingya refugees amid the Covid-19 pandemic could open the floodgates for more vessels carrying refugees to encroach Malaysian waters.

The navy's latest move to prevent more entry of Rohingya refugees had sparked a wave of xenophobic and racist comments against the community as a whole.

Also, there is an ongoing online petition campaign urging the government to ignore tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees affected by the movement control order. - Mkini