By Ram Anand | Malay Mail
Malaysia has not “given up” on ASEAN to help resolve Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis, Malaysian chairman for the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Edmund Bon said today.
Speaking at a discussion following the release of a report on the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar, Bon said that there is “still hope” of using ASEAN channels to resolve the violence.
Malaysia yesterday issued a statement disputing the ASEAN chairman’s remarks on the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine region, after the statement omitted mention of Rohingyas as an affected community.
Malaysia previously used “genocide” to describe the violence against the predominantly-Muslim Rohingyas via military operations in Rakhine.
“Malaysia has not given up on ASEAN, there is still hope,” Bon said.
Bon said that Malaysia has engaged with Myanmar many times before on the issue, but said diplomacy has “certain limits.”
Malaysia has repeatedly used the ASEAN platform to engage the Myanmar government to find a solution on the matter, but so far, the latter has refused to allow for a fact-finding mission in the Rakhine state.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also attended a major rally in solidarity with the Rohingya, which was held in Kuala Lumpur last year.
