POLICE are investigating death threats and hate speech directed at Rohingya refugees, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“I’m surprised by the death threats and all. The Rohingya refugees have been coming here for some time already and it has never been an issue,” he said today in a daily press briefing, in Putrajaya.
 
“In fact, we sympathise with their situation as they were attacked in their own country.

“But the issue seems to have cropped up during the movement control order.”

He said police have been tasked with investigating the threats and the various hate videos that have recently surfaced.

“The police, too, are surprised by the videos that are going around promoting anger towards the Rohingya.”

Rohingya leaders and activists told The Malaysian Insight that they were concerned about the safety of the community after a spate of hate videos emerged on social media last week after the lockdown of the KL wholesale market in Selayang.

Online attacks against the Rohingya have increased after activists called for public support to feed thousands locked down under an enhanced movement control order in Selayang, where many of the refugees live.

Locals took offence to this call, saying that there were needier Malaysians who must be fed and given aid. – April 27, 2020.