KUALA LUMPUR: Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has cautioned those uneasy with the presence of refugees in their communities not to take matters into their own hands.
He said the best course of action was to report it to the authorities.
The minister also said he was aware of certain groups or individuals who had expressed their uneasiness with refugee communities by approaching them directly.
“This can refer to the police or other related enforcement agencies. Leave it to those with authority and do not take action on your own,” he said during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Oct 13).
On another matter, Saifuddin Nasution confirmed that matters related to the Rohingya community in Malaysia were also discussed during the four-eyed meeting between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing.
He also said the matter was also discussed during a bilateral meeting attended by Anwar and several Cabinet members as well as their counterparts.
“The most important aspect is that the Myanmar president and government agreed to repatriate their nationals here at their own costs.
“They also agreed to the screening process to identify their nationals here, through cooperation between both Malaysia and Myanmar authorities,” he said.
He was responding to supplementary questions by Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (PH-Tebrau) who asked whether the minister was aware of the presence of on certain groups allegedly conducting operations against several refugee groups.
Malaysia recently began the first phase of the repatriation programme for Myanmar refugees on Sept 29.
This accounted for approximately 1,500 Myanmar nationals, which is part of the 5,000 individuals whom the government stated had agreed to return voluntarily from detention centers.
