PAS delegate says Rohingya ‘cowards’, should fight Myanmar regime
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| PAS Bagan delegate Mohd Yusof Zaidi says Rohingya refugees in the country should return to Myanmar and fight against the government there. – Reuters pic, June 6, 2015. |
By Melati A. Jalil
June 6, 2015
A PAS delegate said party leaders should help Muslim Rohingya in the country return to Myanmar to fight the government, and called the refugees "cowards" for not opposing the regime there.
Bagan delegate Mohd Yusof Zaidi also said accepting all Rohingya refugees would lead to a greater inflow of migrants from other places.
"If we accept all of them, then Vietnamese will come, then Cambodian and we will have the influx of foreign immigrants.
"Why are they being cowards staying here?" he said during debates at the PAS muktamar or annual congress in Kuala Selangor today.
"What I want is for our leaders to find a way to stop the violence that is happening against Rohingya in Burma."
"If necessary, we ask those who stay and work here to leave their families and go back to their country and fight against their government," Yusof said.
He said the Rohingya should be like the Karen tribe who are also a minority but willing to fight the government.
The Karen are a hill tribe living along the Myanmar-Thailand border who have mounted a rebellion against the Myanmar government in a bid for self-rule.
Rohingya people fleeing persecution in Myanmar were among nearly 2,000 boat people who washed up ashore on Langkawi island in the north of Malaysia's peninsular early last month.
Thousands more migrants, including Bangladeshis, were stranded at sea after people smugglers abandoned the boats transporting them when law enforcement authorities began a crackdown on human trafficking along the Malaysia-Thailand border.
After initially pushing back boats from landing on shore, Malaysia and Indonesia have since agreed to give temporary shelter to the migrants, on condition the international community help relocate them within the next year.
