ON MYANMAR

are needed to alleviate this tragedy.

It is with great admiration that I read Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offering to pay for the costs borne by Bangladesh in accepting and hosting Rohingya refugees temporarily until a more lasting solution is found.

I hope other rich countries can be magnanimous. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should actively get more support for such measures.

Granted, there may be bad elements in the exodus, and UNHCR should vigorously help host governments filter and channel the refugees to manpower-deficient countries. Malaysia, for instance, has a large pool of legal and illegal workers.

Accepting the refugees to work legally in sectors with labour shortage like in plantations, construction and the service sector, should be a priority.

Workers from Myanmar, including the Rohingya, are visible in the Malaysian labour force, but there is room for them, especially after the repatriation of illegal foreign workers.

Rohingya women should be prepared to work as domestic helpers as the demand for maids is high. In due time, it is hoped that other Asean countries and also other countries in the Arabian Gulf Cooperation Region may emulate the Malaysian model, which we hope will be fruitful and be recorded by history as the management of one of the worst humanitarian crises of the century.

Since the Myanmar government is not yielding to world pressure, it is time the world community imposes economic sanctions on Myanmar.