Arakan News Agency
Myanmar’s membership of ASEAN must be reviewed because of its “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya Muslim minority, a senior Malaysian minister warned Wednesday, November 30.
Khairy Jamaluddin said the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ principle of non-interference in member states’ domestic affairs was void in the context of such violence.
Myanmar’s army has carried out a bloody crackdown in the western state of Arakan and thousands of Rohingya have flooded over the border into Bangladesh this month, making horrifying claims of gang rape, torture and murder at the hands of security forces.
“To ASEAN, we demand that Myanmar’s membership in ASEAN be reviewed,” Khairy, the youth and sports minister, told the annual gathering of the ruling party United Malays National Organisation.
“The principle of non-interference is void when there is large scale ethnic cleansing in an ASEAN member state.”
A video highlighting the plight of the Rohingya was played during the minister’s speech, local media reported.
“Let us raise our hands in prayer to Allah for the deliverance of the Rohingya people from injustice and from ruin,” Khairy added.
On Tuesday, November 29, the UN’s rights agency said the Rohingya may be victims of crimes against humanity, as former UN chief Kofi Annan arrived in the country for a visit that will include a trip to northern Arakan.
Source : Rappler
