by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday, 10th March 1992:
DAP calls on Foreign Minister to summon the Myanmar Ambassador to reject his denial of oppression and persecution of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar military junta.
The Myanmar Ambassador to Malaysia, U Ko, yesterday denied that the Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar state of Arakan were being ‘oppressed and persecuted’ by the Myanmar military junta.
U Ko must want Malaysians to believe that the 135,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled the Arakan state over the Myanmar-Bangladesh border into Bangladesh, with massive loss of lives and sufferings, had done so out of their own volition and pleasure
The Myanmar Ambassador’s defense of the oppression and persecution of the Rohingya Muslims and the gross violations of human rights in his country by the Myanmar military junta is a cold-blooded, heartless and unconscionable explanation which must be rejected by all Malaysians who cherish
human rights, dignity and life anywhere in the world.
DAP calls on the Foreign Minister, Datuk Abdullah Badawai, to summon the Myanmar Ambassador to Wismaputra and to inform him that the Malaysian government, with the full support of all Malaysians from all political parties, reject the Myanmar denial of oppression and persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
U Ko should be informed that the Myanmar denial bears no credibility, whatsoever, as the Myanmar military junta is notorious for its callous and total disregard for human rights, dignity and life in Myanmar, as illustrated by the continued detention of the Burmese Opposition leader, Nobel Peace Laureate Aung Sang Suu Kyi and the massacre of Burmese student leaders, activists and dissidents.
If the Myanmar military junta is not prepared to heed Malay¬sia’s call, as well as the call of the international community, to stop the oppression and persecution of the Rohingya Muslims, as well as the continued violation of human rights, dignity and life in Myanmar, then the DAP calls on the Malaysian Government to seriously consider breaking off diplomatic relations with the Myanmar military junta and to support international efforts to impose economic sanctions on the Myanmar regime.