Anifah on Rohingya mission

PETALING JAYA: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman is atten­ding the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Yangon today to highlight Malaysia’s consistent condemnation of the escalation of violence against the Muslim Rohingya minority.

This is the first time that Myanmar has initiated a meeting with other countries to discuss the sensitive issue of its treatment of the Muslim population.

According to a Wisma Putra official, Anifah will return to Malaysia after the meeting.

The meeting gives an opportunity to unequivocally state Malaysia’s strong position on the issue while Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has promised to brief Asean foreign ministers on the recent developments there.

“The loss of innocent lives and the displacement of people are un­­ac­­ceptable, and Malaysia will call on all parties involved to refrain from taking any action that would aggravate the situation further.

“As a founding member of Asean, Malaysia is fully cognizant of the principles upon which Asean was built, in particular, the non-inter­ference principle that binds us in Asean,” said Anifah in a statement recently.

“However, we also believe that Asean member states are bound by international principles on the promotion and protection of human rights, which are also enshrined in the Asean Charter and the Asean Human Rights Declaration.

“The spirit of the Asean Commu­­nity, set to advance Asean’s goal of lasting peace, security and stability, sustained economic growth and shared prosperity and social progress, should guide us.”

Malaysia, he added, was ready to assist Myanmar in finding a just, expeditious and durable solution to the protracted issue in Rakhine.

“This is what Malaysia has pushed for in recent weeks – an acknowledgement of the problem and the meeting of minds for its resolution.

“Even though this is only the first step in resolving the problem, it is nevertheless a positive step in the right direction,” he said.

Thousands of Malaysians, inclu­ding Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, gathered at the Titiwangsa Stadium on Dec 4 to protest the alleged state-sponsored “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingyas in Myanmar.