Arafat Hasan of DOT
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to put pressure on Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi over the Rohingya crisis.
He said tough measures should be taken to put the pressure on Myanmar and Suu Kyi to end atrocities against the Rohingyas, according to a report yesterday by The Nation.
The report also said Thailand will chair Asean next year.
Since violence erupted in Myanmar on August 25 of last year, over 720,000 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh.
In an interview with The Nation, Mahathir said: “We can appeal to the government of Myanmar, but if there is no response and the atrocities continue, Asean must support international moves to stop this abuse of authority and injustice in Myanmar.”
“Asean has to learn how to bring pressure on governments that are not treating their own people with fairness and justice.”
He added, “If Asean just allows these people to be massacred, it doesn’t seem we are acting responsibly.”
The Malaysian president said he and other foreign leaders had urged Suu Kyi to help the Rohingyas, just as other nations rallied to protect her when she was a victim of injustice under Myanmar’s former military regime from 1989 to 2010.
“Aung San Suu Kyi once fought against the military, but now she is a member of the government and is not able to have any influence over the military,” Mahathir said. “She [Suu Kyi] should not associate herself with the military. They were unjust to her and now they are unjust to the Rohingya.”
-Source: Dhaka Tribune