PETALING JAYA: A human rights activist has urged Putrajaya to assure the public it will not send detained Rohingya back to sea after repairing the boat they arrived in.
Bangkok-based John Quinley III of Fortify Rights said it would be like handing the death sentence to the refuge-seeking Rohingya, who number 269.
He pointed out that many Rohingya had died at sea this year and added that sea conditions had become dreadful now that the monsoon season was starting.
“The Malaysian government should publicly affirm that the refugees brought ashore in early June will not be sent back out to sea,” he told FMT.
“It should provide them with protection and safety and urgently grant them access to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.”
Quinley’s remarks came after a news report quoted security sources as saying Malaysian authorities were considering a plan to push back the Rohingya to sea after repairs on their boat are complete.
The refugees arrived in Langkawi from Bangladesh on June 8 and were detained when security personnel found they could not turn the boat away since its engine was severely damaged.
They found that one person had died in the boat and handed the body to the police. The 269 were placed at Kem Bina Diri.
Adrian Pereira of the North-South Initiative activist group called for a compassionate response from the authorities.
He told FMT he feared that the Rohingya would fall into the hands of human traffickers and end up becoming slaves if Malaysia refused to give them refuge.
Malaysia has been a favoured destination for ethnic Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar and from refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi officials have rejected Malaysia’s proposal to send the 269 back to Bangladesh. - FMT
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