DO not ignore the Rohingya community, especially when they are stranded and in need of much help during the movement-control order (MCO) period, said a researcher.

Azlinariah Abdullah, an expert on the Rohingya and an author of a book on this community, told The Malaysian Insight they needed assistance after having escaped the brutality in their country.

“We have to sympathise with them. They are refugees and they have nothing. They have no work, no documents, no money, their children can’t go to school, and they are often manipulated,” said Azlinariah, a researcher with Asia-Europe Institute of Universiti Malaya.

“Their situation has worsened with the MCO. Now, they have no food and are stranded.

“On top of that, we have the anti-Rohingya sentiment among the locals now. Let us not allow this situation to continue and for them to die of hunger,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

The community has come under attack from locals after activists called for help to feed the thousands of Rohingya refugees living in the Selayang area, placed under total lockdown in the fight against Covid-19.

The activists said the Rohingya may face hungry days ahead as food aid from the government will only be made available to Malaysians.

False news have also been posted online that the Rohingya refugees here are demanding citizenship and making disparaging remarks about the Malays.

There have also been death threats and hate speech directed at Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, who heads the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia.

Azlinariah said the Rohingya community has come under online attacks because many Malaysians failed to differentiate between the Rohingya, and others from Bangladesh and Myanmar.

“Social media users are using the same brush to attack every foreigner, without knowing the difference between the Rohingya, and the others.

“The other Myanmar Muslims and those from Bangladesh are here to make a living but the Rohingya people are political refugees.

“Maybe there is a handful of Rohingya who demand for many things but to me there is nothing wrong in them asking.”

She added it was the duty of a Muslim to help the Rohingya.

Azlinarah said her research showed almost all Rohingya in Malaysia want to return to Myanmar if it is safe for them to do so.

“Based on my doctoral research on Rohingya, from the 70 respondents I interviewed, almost 100% wanted to return to Myanmar when it is safe.”

As such, she said, Malaysians need not fear the Rohingya dominating Malaysia in years to come.

There are reportedly between 150,000 and 400,000 refugees from Myanmar already in Malaysia, with some already here for three or four generations.

The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Malaysia has 101,010 Rohingya registered with it as of February this year. – April 25, 2020.