by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, March 20, 1992:
DAP welcomes the Government’s decision to help the Myanmar Muslim refugees and calls on Datuk Abdullah Badawi to lead an official mission to Myanmar to intercede on behalf of the Rohingya Muslims.
DAP welcomes the Malaysian Government’s decision to help the Myanmar Muslim refugees announced by the Foreign Minister, Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday.
Datuk Abdullah said in what form the aid will be and when it will be sent have not been decided.
What is of utmost paramount importance, however, is that the Malaysian Government should apply pressure on the Myanmar military junta to stop its oppression and persecution of the Myanmar Rohingya Muslims and other gross violation of human rights.
There is no reason why the Malaysian Government has not been able to take regional and international initiatives in ASEAN and the United Nations to mobilise international opinion against the Myanmar military junta for its oppression and persecution of the Rohingya Muslims.
According to the Malaysian High Commission in Bangladesh, the number of Rohingya Muslims who
had fled the western Myanmar state of Arakan across the Bangladesh-Myanmar border have increased to 200, 000.
DAP suggests that Datuk Abdullah should lead an official mission to Yangon to intercede on behalf of the Rohingya Muslims and to demand that the Myanmar military junta halt its oppression and persecution of the Rohingya Muslims. Malaysia should also propose an internationally supervised plan for the 200,000 Rohingya Muslims in refugee camps in Bangladesh to return to Arakan without any reprisals by the Myanmar military authorities.
It would be even better if Datuk Abdullah could lead a mission of ASEAN Foreign Ministers to Myanmar to raise the issue of the 200,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees.
Malaysia will be failing in her international duty if the government is not prepared to take any regional
or international initiatives to apply pressure on the Myanmar military junta to stop its gross violation of human rights of Myanmanese nationals.