Is Malaysian support for Rohingya an election ploy by Najib Razak?

However, Malaysia’s refugee policies are sorely lacking. The UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons has criticised the nation’s non-recognition of asylum-seekers and refugees. Malaysia is home to some 150,000 UNHCR-registered asylum-seekers and refugees who cannot work legally or attend public school and have limited access to health care. Even more are unregistered. Many are engaged in informal work such as sweeping roads or working in factories or construction sites for low wages, and most report harassment, extortion and even detention by the authorities – particularly those who have not yet been registered by UNHCR. More than 30,000 children have no access to government-funded schools, settling for informal madrassa-style centres manned by volunteers; and marriages featuring underage girls are not uncommon.

At odds with this marginalisation was the appearance of Prime Minister Najib Razak at a pro-Rohingya rally in December last year, which saw him and the leader of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)along with droves of supporters protesting against the alleged persecution of the Rohingya people by Myanmar’s government.

During a fiery speech, he questioned Aung San Suu Kyi’s credentials, breaking the protocol of non-interference by Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members just a year after Malaysia played host to the body’s 27th summit. He argued that Asean also protected basic human rights, and called the Rohingya issue “an insult to Islam”. A month later he pledged 10 million ringgit (HK$18 million) to aid the Rohingya after hosting an extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the issue – a move that prompted Myanmar’s government to express disappointment, calling Malaysia’s actions “regrettable”.