Rohingya activist: Bad apples don't represent the entire Rohingya community

Blaming the entire Rohingya refugee community for offences committed by certain bad apples is unfair, said Rohingya activist Sharifah Shakirah.

In a webinar addressing hate speech against Rohingya refugees on Facebook today, Sharifah said the community, in general, are grateful and appreciative over the assistance by Malaysians.

"Every community has its bad and good people.

"It's not fair to label everyone as rude... a small group of bad people doesn't represent the entire community," said Sharifah, who is based in Texas.

Before this, the 24-year-old activist had stayed in Malaysia for 18 years.

She was responding to a notion that Rohingyas have bad attitudes.

Sharifah said that the Rohingya community in Malaysia is traumatised by the recent hate campaign as well as operations by authorities against them.

"They are losing hope. It's just hard for them.

"They are facing multiple challenges. No work and no money to buy food, the Covid-19 crisis, the hate campaign, the deportation.

"They don't have daily wages. They stay at home and cannot go out."

As an activist, she received calls from the likes of single mothers who complained of not having money to buy food and those abused by landlords as they were unable to pay the rent.

"These people are struggling from every angle everywhere."

Rohingya refugees in Malaysia have been subjected to hate campaigns since March this year, notably due to the viral allegations on social media that Rohingyas were demanding equal rights and citizenship from the Malaysian government.

An incident of authorities blocking boats ferrying Rohingyas refugees from entering the Malaysia waters in April had also sparked debates in the country.

Meanwhile, Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights chairperson Charles Santiago called on the government to launch an inquiry to probe the hate speech against Rohingyas refugees.

He claimed that the hate campaign appeared to be orchestrated by certain irresponsible parties.

"This appears to be quite orchestrated, and the hate speech mobilisation is very well-coordinated and planned.

"What is it that you want to achieve and benefit?"

Santiago, who is also Klang member of Parliament, noted that the people who had supported the community for years have now turned their back against the community.

"In three weeks, 450,000 people signed a petition asking the government to remove Rohingyas from Malaysia.

"That's a lot of people. I think if you tell a lie 10 times, that lie becomes the truth and we are stuck in that conundrum," he said.

Commenting on the petition, Sharifah said most of those signed the petition were fed with wrong information about Rohingyas on social media.

"It's very easy (to share misinformation) on social media. You just click on a button to share," she said.

Last month, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said that the government does not recognise the refugee status of any group, including Rohingyas.

However, he said Malaysia allowed those carrying the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) card to stay temporarily in the country before UNHCR moved them to a third country.

As of March this year, there are 179,521 UNHCR cardholders in Malaysia, half are Rohingyas. - Mkini