Skip to main content

3 Malaysian besieged in Rakhine in safe hands

More then 100 Rakhine Extremists were surrounded to attack 3 Malaysians in Sittwe Town, Arakan State Photo Soe Thu Moe FB

Bernama
February 21, 2014

PUTRAJAYA: Three Malaysians on a Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisations (MAPIM) humanitarian mission who came under siege by local residents in Rakhine, Myanmar yesterday, are now put under police protection.

Zulhanis Zainol, 36, Mohamed Fithri Ahmad, 42, and Muhaimin Samad, 28, who were on a humanitarian mission in aid of the Rohingya community were believed to be surrounded by a group of extremist Buddhists in Sitwee, Rakhine.

It is learnt that Mohamed Fithri and Muhaimin were local television employees filming a documentary.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin said the three men were brought out of Sitwee to be ferried to Yangon at 1.30pm (local time) yesterday.

"I understand a group of local residents had surrounded them. Fortunately police came on time to save them and put them under police protection. They are now safe," he told reporters here today.

Hamzah said the group of activitists did not inform or contact the Foreign Ministry about their humanitarian mission.

"The MAPIM mission group had been there for almost two years but they did not inform our representatives in Myanmar and we only got to know about them when the incident occurred.

"Nonetheless, we have good relations with Myanmar and assistance was rendered to our people immediately," he said.

Hamzah also called on mission organisers to foreign countries to contact Wisma Putra and the respective embassy prior to the mission to facilitate contact should any untoward matters arise.    

"Wisma Putra is non-partisan and is prepared to assist Malaysians irrespective of their political ideology," he said.

Meanwhile, Hamzah said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will be delivering a keynote address on the second day of the '8th Heads of Mission Conference'.

Themed 'Transforming Malaysia’s Diplomacy Towards 2020 and Beyond,' he said 105 delegates will be attending the conference from Feb 23 to March 1, at the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations in Kuala Lumpur.

“The conference will provide updates on Malaysia’s domestic policies, priorities and interests, review the performance of Malaysia’s diplomatic service to clients and stakeholders and extrapolate challenges to deliver Malaysian’s foreign policy priorities.

“It will also determine strategic areas as an aspiring high income developed nation by 2020,” he said.

Apart from that, Hamzah said there will also be a dialogue session with leaders such as Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa and Peformance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) chief executive office,

Datuk Seri Idris Jala. -- BERNAMA

Popular posts from this blog

Rohingya MP U Shwe Maung undergoes questioning

Rohingya MP U Shwe Maung By Kayleigh Long Myanmar Times February 07, 2014 Union Solidarity and Development Party MP U Shwe Maung has been questioned by police in Nay Pyi Taw over comments he made to Democratic Voice of Burma about possible police involvement in a fire that broke out in a Muslim village in Rakhine State late last month. More than a dozen homes were destroyed in the blaze at Du Chee Yar Tan West village near Maungdaw in northern Rakhine State on January 28. U Shwe Maung said the February 4 interrogation came at the behest of President U Thein Sein, who sent a letter to Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann requesting permission for police question the MP. The interview lasted about 90 minutes and was conducted at his USDP living quarters in Nay Pyi Taw. It focused on allegations that U Shwe Maung, a Rohingya, had defamed the state and police by saying that residents believed security forces were involved in starting the fire. ...

ERC representatives and Dr.Maung Zarni partook a seminar in Sweden

ERC Delegation Meet Dr. Zarni Mohamed Farooq ( Mayu Press) May 7, 2013 The Stockholm University of Sweden held a seminar on “Forum for Asian Studies” at William Olsson Hall, the department of geological science on 3rd May 2013. It depicts Rohingya tragedy and Human Right Eradication in western Burma. Burma (Myanmar) is a nation with ambition to make their name and discharge their White Man’s Burden, one of the world’s hottest assignments in the world of diplomats, development consultants, NGO experts and academic researchers, a lucrative ‘frontier’ market for investors, venture capitalists and multinationals, a must-go for both citizen-tourists and global luminaries. This lecture will critically discuss the rose-tinted view of reforms in Burma against the troubling realties as lived by the people of that country, including full-scale Rohingya genocide of 40 years, the 60-years of Burmese army’s un-ending internal colonial wars against the Christian Kachins, the Kare...

রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের কোনো ভবিষ্যৎ নেই

বাংলাদেশের আশ্রয়শিবিরে বসবাসকারী রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের কোনোই ভবিষ্যৎ নেই বলে মন্তব্য করেছেন রোহিঙ্গা বিষয়ক আইনজীবী রাজিয়া সুলতানা। তিনি এই আশ্রয়শিবিরকে চিড়িয়াখানার সঙ্গে তুলনা করেছেন এবং রোহিঙ্গাদের ফেরত পাঠানোর জন্য একটি উপযুক্ত কৌশল নির্ধারণের আহ্বান জানিয়েছেন। কয়েকদিন আগে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রণালয়ের ইন্টারন্যাশনাল ওমেন অব কারেজ এওয়ার্ড (আইডব্লিউসিএ) পুরস্কার পান রাজিয়া সুলতানা। সাহসিকতা দেখানোর জন্য সারা বিশ্ব থেকে বাছাই করা ১০ জন নারীকে এ পুরস্কার দেয়া হয়।  রাজিয়া সুলতানার একটি সাক্ষাৎকার নিয়েছে বার্তা সংস্থা রয়টার্স। তাতে তিনি রোহিঙ্গাদের পরিণতি নিয়ে হতাশা প্রকাশ করেন। রাজিয়া সুলতানা বলেন, মিয়ানমারের মুসলিম সংখ্যালঘু সম্প্রদায়ের রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের মধ্যে আশার অভাব রয়েছে। ২০১৭ সালের আগস্টে মিয়ানমারের সেনাবাহিনীর নৃশংস নির্যাতনের ফলে তারা পালিয়ে এসে বাংলাদেশে আশ্রয় নিতে বাধ্য হয়। রাজিয়া সুলতানা বলেন, এই আশ্রয় শিবিরে যত বেশি সময় শরণার্থীরা থাকবেন ততই পরিস্থিতির অবনতি ঘটতে থাকবে। ওই সাক্ষাৎকারে তিনি আরো বলেন, হ্যাঁ, এ কথা সত্য যে, শরণার্থীরা খাবার পাচ্ছে। কিন...