Arakan News Agency
Malaysia has proposed recommendations for the Myanmar government on the way forward to address the Rohingya issue.
“Firstly, I believe the most urgent matter is the humanitarian conditions of the people in the affected areas. Like others, we call for an unimpeded humanitarian access to the affected areas,” said Anifah Aman at the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Yangon on Monday.
The Malaysian Foreign Minister cited the case of former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, who emphasised the same during his visit to the affected areas in early December 2016.
Malaysian humanitarian NGOs are also ready to channel humanitarian aid to the Myanmar government, he said.
It was also proposed that Asean coordinates the humanitarian assistance to the Arakan State, as previously done during cyclone Nargis in 2008.
Anifah recommended that international humanitarian organisations, such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, should also be given full access to the affected areas in order to assess the situation there and assist in providing the necessary aid.
“Secondly, in order to assist us to formulate a sustainable and long-term solution to the situation in the Northern Arakan State, I propose that Asean establishes an independent group of experts or an eminent persons group to investigate and verify the situation in the Arakan State,” he said, adding that the independent group will then provide recommendations on the way forward.
“I believe that in the spirit of maintaining Asean centrality and cohesiveness, we have to address this issue collectively,” Anifah said.
Though the issue that Myanmar faces is very complex and difficult, he said the Malaysian government strongly believes that Myanmar must do more in trying to address the root causes of the problem.
“I believe that Her Excellency Daw Aung Suu Kyi’s promise to address the root causes affecting the local population, namely that of citizenship and status, and to provide relief to the internally displaced persons since 2012, would go a long way in relieving tension and promote realistic and sustainable solutions,” he said, adding his hope that the Myanmar leader would take into account the concerns of her Asean friends and the international community.
Reports state that this is the first time Myanmar has initiated a meeting with other countries to discuss the sensitive issue of its treatment of the Muslim population.
Thousands of Malaysians, including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, had gathered at the Titiwangsa Stadium on Dec 4 to protest the alleged state-sponsored “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya in Myanmar.
