by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, 13 March, 1992:
Malaysian Government should publicly declare that it is prepared to support international economic sanctions against the Myanmar military junta if it does not stop its oppression and persecution of the Rohingya Muslims.
On Wednesday, the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) condemned the Myanmar military junta for the oppression and persecu¬tion of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
Yesterday, the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Ali Alatas, warned Myanmar that its suppression of the Rohingya Muslims threatens stability in the region.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Ghafar Baba, said yesterday that the government is still awaiting a report from the Malaysian High Commission in Bangladesh on the true picture of the Rohingya Muslims.
I am sure the Malaysian Government would not require any reports from our High Commissioners or Ambassadors abroad about the gross violation of human rights by the Myanmar military junta, like the continued detention of Burmese Opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Since December, some 170,000 Rohingya Muslims had fled the western Arakan state of Myanmar to Bangladesh, accusing the Myanmar troops of looting and burning their homes, raping women and killing those who protested.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that the Rohingya Muslim refugees could total 300,000 by the end of the month.
The Malaysian High Commission in Bangladesh is not perform¬ing its duties if it takes so long to submit
a report on the plight of the Rohingya Muslims who, since December, had fled across the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
DAP calls on the Malaysian Government to publicly declare that it is prepared to support international economic sanctions against the Myanmar military junta if it does not stop its oppression and persecution of the Rohingya Muslims, and restore the homes and property of the 175,000 Rohinqya Muslim refugees or pay them compensa¬tion.
Malaysia must be in the forefront to take diplomatic initiatives in ASEAN to get the Myanmar military junta to respect human rights, dignity and lives of Rohingya Muslims who have been Myanmar nationals for centuries. Malaysia should propose the convening of an emergency ASEAN Foreign Ministers conference to discuss and work out a united international strategy on the Rohingya Muslims issue.
It is a great shame if ASEAN nations, which are the closest neighbours of Myanmar, are not prepared to take diplomatic initiatives to help the Rohingya Muslims and to end their sufferings and ordeals.