Who are the Rohingyas and why are they related to the Selayang COVID-19 issue ?

Now here comes the question, who are the Rohingyas ? Out of many Myanmars, the Rohingyas are part of Myanmar's ethnic minorities. A few years ago at the start of 2017, Rohingya Muslims represent the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar, with the majority living in Rakhine state. However, described by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the are known as "one of, if not the, most discriminated people in the world". 

The Rohingyas are actually survivors of genocide by the Myanmar system and have lived in political, financial, social and instructive lockdown in Myanmar for over four decades. Some of the Rohingya surivors managed to escape those hell-liked moments, and have ended up in Malaysia for shelter and refuge. Although some of these refugees had settled down in other countries, but the majority chose to stay in Malaysia, for years or decades, in hope of returning to Myanmar once it becomes peaceful and they are assured of their security. 

What caused the social media attack ?

The social media attacked has arised due to two main reasons which are :

• Citizenship & Equal Rights
• Selayang Market

Citizenship & Equal Rights

The were rumours regarding the Rohingyas demanding for similar citizenship and equal rights as Malaysians which caused this social media attack. There were viral social media postings indicating that the Rohingya refugees wanted to seek citizenship in Malaysia instead of what they had been given currently, causing a big fuss online. 

Previously, a self-proclaimed leader of the Rohingyas named Zafar Ahmed Abdul Ghani was the key to this problem. He is claimed to run an organisation named Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia (Merhrom) that helps the Rohingya refugees to fight for citizenship and equal rights.  

Even so, he had made himself clear in many online videos denying that both him and the Rohingya refugees had not made such demands, claiming that they don't intend to live in Malaysia permanently. Also, he isn't a formally elected representative of the Rohingyas. Currently, the Rohingya refugees are only temporary refuge and only seek minimum human rights.

Selayang market

Other than the rumours on demand for equal rights, the Rohingya refugees were also said to be dominating the Selayang wholesale market and also the surrounding areas, and some were even habitually breaking the laws during this lockdown period. Due to these rumours, a petition was signed by more than 20,000 Malaysians asking the government to reduce and resolve this influx, demanding the Rohingyas to be deported from Malaysia. Fortunately, this petition was later removed because of reported hate speech. 

According to The Malay Mail, the Rohingya Women Development Network (RWDN) and Elom Empowerment (Elom) has made this clear saying that these are factually incorrect. It is said that there were only minority of the Rohingya refugees working and living around the area, and there was neither domination nor rule-breaking activities going on.  

Also, another article from The Malay Mail today indicates that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim even stated that he never suggested that Rohingya refugees to be given Malaysian citizenship, however, they seek to be granted Myanmar citizenship. He says, “They were denied citizenship in their own country. That is why their villages were burned and they were driven from their homeland. If we send the refugees back to Myanmar, they will be suppressed and might even be shot to death."  

Besides these factual reasons, the are also some aspects to prove their innocence :

• Not all Muslim were these Rohingya refugees
• The Rohingya refugees are just wage workers or labour, not business owners 
• They even pray for the well-being of Malaysia

Plea for the Rohingya refugees

Although the Rohingya refugees had been continuously attacked on the social media, but there were also citizens appealing to the government, pleading help for them. The RWDN and Elom had also appealed to the government, hoping that they would provide more help to the Rohingyas.

“We appeal to the government of Malaysia to continue to be kind to the Rohingya genocide survivors and provide them refuge in the country and humanitarian assistance.We urge the local media and international media covering and reporting on the situation of the Rohingya refugees in Malaysia to be more factually correct and in-depth in their reporting. A simple shallow or misreporting by the media could endanger the lives of the genocide survivors and jeopardise their refuge in the country.”

Rohingyas pleading and apologising

In light of this serious moment, a coalition of 17 Rohingya groups apologised and seek forgiveness for the "irresponsible statements" allegedly made by Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation in Malaysia (Merhrom) president Zafar Ahmed Abdul Ghani. They stated that these statements doesn't represent them, saying that these statements had triggered "unprecedented negative sentiments" among Malaysians towards them. 

"We, the Rohingya refugees have never ever elected Zafar as our president. He is not our leader. In fact, we have no leader in Malaysia and he has no right to issue statements on our behalf.Therefore, all Rohingyas are against such unrealistic and irresponsible statements." 

References: The Malay Mail, The Malay Mail