LETTER: On April 16, the Royal Malaysian Navy turned back a boat carrying about 200 Rohingya women, men and children, while reportedly providing food to those on board. The Royal Malaysian Air Force has cited Covid-19 measures as justification for turning boats away from Malaysia’s coast.
While we understand the challenges the Malaysian government is facing during the outbreak, we would like to persuade it to have a “change of heart” on humanitarian grounds for the most persecuted minority in the world, according to the United Nations in 2013.
We call on governments in the region to allow them immediate safe disembarkation, especially Asean members to urgently agree to emergency measures to prevent another humanitarian crisis, while accommodating governments’ existing Covid-19 restrictions at their borders. We fear that Asean will face a new humanitarian crisis while also battling a pandemic.
By pushing back the boats to sea, traffickers and smugglers who captain such ships would find other ways to enter Malaysia or neighbouring nations, thus causing us to lose the window to do health screenings for Rohingyas on board and manage the risk of Covid-19 from spreading. Pushing back the boats to sea is a highly risky and miscalculated action which will backfire. It is best we rectify this urgently.
Earlier this week, Asean member states issued the Declaration of the Special Asean Summit on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), a declaration following its virtual summit on Covid-19, affirming the bloc’s commitment to being a “caring and sharing Asean Community where Asean Member States help each other in this challenging time”.
Asean governments signalled their solidarity in this difficult moment, therefore they must extend their compassion to those in immediate danger at sea. Asean states must ensure that policies on Covid-19 uphold everyone’s rights and do not jeopardise people in need of humanitarian assistance and international protection.
Asean till today has not been able to effectively address the violence that pushes the Rohingya people out of Myanmar, where the root cause of the problem originates. Crimes against humanity have continued against the estimated 600,000 Rohingya still living in Rakhine State, Myanmar.
And after several waves of brutal military operations in 2016 and 2017, nearly 1 million Rohingya live in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, dependent on humanitarian assistance for their survival.
International law imposes obligations on states to protect the human rights of refugees arriving on their shores. In this regard, Malaysia could have welcomed the refugees ashore and quarantined them with further health checks.
The principle of non-refoulement obliges states not to return anyone to a territory where they would be at risk of persecution or serious human rights violations.
The principle of non-refoulement is also protected under general international human rights law, as well as customary international law, which is binding on all states. The Asean Human Rights Declaration also includes the right to “seek and receive asylum.”
We are thankful that the government of Malaysia has taken care of Rohingya refugees in the past and we are grateful for all the help rendered to them. We are only asking the government of Malaysia to extend the same courtesy to the refugees on the boats and avoid the horrific consequences of sea being the graveyard for our people.
Last but not least, we are ever ready to help consult with the government in coming up with a plan for the management of the arriving boat people should the government allow them to land. We give our commitment according to our capacity and capabilities.
Tengku Emma Zuriana Tengku Azmi
Ambassador to Malaysia
The European Rohingya Council