Viral petition to expel Rohingya from Malaysia triggers hate speech warning

Malaysia’s human rights groups have warned of rising hostility towards Rohingya refugees after a petition shared widely on social media calling for the community to be “removed” from the country amassed nearly half a million signatures. The petition, launched on Change.org late last month by an account using the name “Aku Anak Malaysia”, urges the Malaysian government to consider resettling the Rohingya in another country or providing “enhanced support in their home regions” in Myanmar. It claims the presence of Rohingya refugees has placed a “growing strain on resources, infrastructure and social services”, while also raising “security concerns” and stoking fear within local communities. By Monday morning, the petition to “remove Rohingya from Malaysia” had gathered more than 424,000 signatures – up from around 280,000 recorded by one rights group the previous week. “It’s crucial for Malaysia to prioritise its own citizens’ welfare and stability while working on a humane solution for the refugees,” the petition reads, adding: “The current approach is unsustainable.” A backlash against the Rohingya has been growing on Malaysian social media, with posts accusing them of being ungrateful, disorderly and a threat to local communities. “No Rohingya” banners have also reportedly begun appearing in several locations. On Sunday, Malaysian influencer Miz Nyna Bukater shared a screenshot of the petition, writing to her 239,000 followers on Facebook that it reflected “the voice of the people who have been suppressing their dissatisfaction for too long”. “Malaysians are starting to ask if we are helping refugees, or are we building a foreign community that is growing out of control?” Refugees do not leave their homes voluntarily in search of better economic opportunities, they are forced to flee Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) said on Wednesday that the petition had emerged alongside “hostile sentiment, discriminatory rhetoric and online attacks” against Rohingya refugees, particularly following the recent Eid ul-Adha festival. “Hate speech not only undermines the dignity of a community that is often exposed to many vulnerabilities, but also erodes the values of compassion, empathy and mutual respect,” Suhakam said. The commission urged Malaysians to distinguish between refugees and economic migrants. “Refugees do not leave their homes voluntarily in search of better economic opportunities,” it said. “They are forced to flee because of persecution, armed conflict, violence or serious human rights violations.” The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, have been denied citizenship rights for decades and were the target of a brutal military crackdown in 2017 that drove hundreds of thousands into Bangladesh. Renewed conflict has since pushed more of the stateless refugees to seek safety across the region. Muslim-majority Malaysia, population 34.4 million, has long been a destination of choice for Rohingya fleeing both Myanmar and the overcrowded refugee camps of Bangladesh. But Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, leaving refugees without formal legal status, the right to work or access to state-funded education. As of the end of February, there were 215,600 refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia registered with the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, among them 126,144 Rohingya. Malaysian rights group Pusat Komas said on Friday that the Change.org petition appeared to violate the platform’s own rules against hate and discrimination, accusing its authors of relying on “misleading and unsubstantiated claims” about the Rohingya community. It noted that calls to harm Rohingya refugees and their homes had been circulated online alongside links to the petition. “Hate must not be normalised as public opinion,” Pusat Komas said in a statement, urging Change.org to take down the petition and calling on Malaysians to reject “propaganda that dehumanises refugees”. The Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) also expressed alarm at the “escalating narrative of extreme hatred” against Rohingya refugees, including online calls for people to take matters into their own hands. Public concerns over security, jobs, cleanliness and social harmony were legitimate matters for the government to address, Abim said, but not by making an entire community a target. “Legitimate anxieties must not transform into hatred against an entire group of human beings,” it said. “If individuals commit offences, action must be taken against the wrongdoers without collectively punishing the entire community.” The backlash comes as the Rohingya crisis worsens amid the ongoing civil conflict in Myanmar. More than 1.3 million Rohingya have been displaced, according to the UNHCR. The vast majority, around 1.2 million, fled to Bangladesh, while some 5,000 are believed to have drowned at sea over the past decade. Addressing the record number of deaths at sea recorded last year, UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said that most Rohingya wanted to return to Myanmar but “the absence of citizenship prospects leave them with really little hope”. “No one would put their family on a risky boat, knowing that the chances of survival are really low, if the sense of desperation is not there,” he said in April.

Viral petition to expel Rohingya from Malaysia triggers hate speech warning

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Rights groups warn hatred risks spilling onto Malaysia’s streets as a petition to expel Rohingya refugees nears half a million signatures

Rights groups warn hatred risks spilling onto Malaysia’s streets as a petition to expel Rohingya refugees nears half a million signatures