DESPITE recent criticisms of Asean inaction over the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, Malaysia still has no intention of signing the United Nations convention on refugees.

“We do not intend to sign the refugee convention, although we have received refugees from Vietnam at Pulau Bidong at one time,” Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters today.

He said Malaysia was already cooperating with international refugee bodies.

Pulau Bidong once served as a refuge to Vietnamese refugees between 1978 to 1991.

The 1951 Refugee Convention defines the term ‘refugee’ and outlines the rights of the displaced, as well as the legal obligations of States to protect them, UNHCR said on its website

So far, 145 countries have become parties to this convention.

“We are cooperating with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and International Organisation of Migrants (IOM).”

“Our policies are humanitarian-based,” Zahid added.

Following the deaths of a dozen Myanmar security personnel in the hands of the militant group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on August 25, government military retaliation has led to thousands of civilian deaths and the exodus of about 500,000 Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Myanmar is a member of the 10-member Asean, a regional grouping known for its non-interference policy, which has come under criticism lately for its inaction over the crisis.

Last week, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman criticised Asean chairman Alan Peter Cayetano from the Philippines for failing to condemn the Myanmar government over the crisis, and for a “misrepresentation of the reality of the situation”.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has responded by accusing Malaysia of violating the Asean charter of non-interference and exploiting the crisis “to promote a certain political agenda.”

Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah had urged world powers and Myanmar’s Southeast Asian neighbours to have “courage” in putting an end to the Rohingya crisis that has displaced half a million refugees.

“We cannot allow fears of upsetting our neighbours; or fear of being accused of interference; or fears of affecting our regional trade and commerce, to prevent us from voicing out our anxieties and alarm at what is happening in Rakhine state,” he said at a fundraiser dinner on Tuesday. – October 6, 2017.