Open Up Opportunities For Resettlement Of Rohingya In Third Countries - Conference
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| Asean should re-look its non-interference policy and set limits to what constitutes an 'internal affair', says former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at an international conference entitled 'Plight of the Rohingya Part II- Crime against Humanity' at the Islamic Arts Museum, Kuala Lumpur. Bernama Photo |
By Bernama
June 12, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR -- An international conference on the plight of the Rohingya today called on all countries to open up opportunities for members of the community to be resettled in third countries and possibility, for voluntary repatriation.
The meeting also called for the United Nations (UN) agency for refugees and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to be proactively involved in the implementation of voluntary repatriation and resettlement of refugees currently in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, to relevant third countries.
These were contained in the resolution issued at the conclusion of the one-day 'International Conference on the Plight of the Rohingya, Part II: Crime Against Humanity' convened by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) here today.
The event was attended by participants comprising representatives from the diplomatic corps, international organisations, human rights groups, civil society, non-governmental organisations, media and leaders of Rohingya organisations.
They called upon developed countries that were not yet resettlement nations to agree to settle refugees and set reasonable quotas.
The meeting felt that there was a need for the United States, Australia, the European Union and other resettlement countries to increase their quotas with a view to expediting the resettlement of refugees currently residing in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
It also urged developed countries as well as international organisations including the Organisation of Islamic Coooperation to provide direct socio-economic assistance to the Rohingya in Myanmar, as a way of discouraging them from leaving the country.
Meanwhile, PGPF president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his keynote address earlier said he had written to Myanmar's Nobel Peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on the plight of the ethnic Rohingya but had yet to receive a reply.
The matter, the former Malaysian prime minister said, should also be given more prominence by the UN.
More than 1,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya from Myanmar landed illegally in Malaysia's resort island of Langkawi in northern Peninsular Malaysia last month, with authorities scrambling to prevent the problem from ballooning.
