HISHAM: OPPRESSION MAY DRIVE ROHINGYA TO I.S.
BETTER SOLUTIONS: Humanitarian crisis, if unchecked, can lead to political, security problems, says Hisham
MALAYSIA is worried that the plight faced by the Rohingya could push them into subscribing to Islamic State (IS) ideology.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said this concern had been conveyed to his Myanmar counterpart, LieutenantGeneral Sein Win, in a recent meeting, adding that the pressure and suffering this community was facing could lead them to joining the radical group to survive.
“If no drastic measures were taken, I am worried that they may choose to join extremist groups. We can’t really blame them if they do because they may not have other options,” he said at the 2016 Kuala Lumpur International Youth Discourse here yesterday.
Malaysia, he added, had opted to help the Rohingya and not merely conduct protests.
In his special address at the discourse earlier, Hishammuddin said humanitarian crisis, if unchecked, could lead to political and security problems.
Referring to the situation faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar, he said a problem in one country could lead to the destabilisation of its neighbours and others in the region.
“The Rohingya issue is one such problem that requires urgent, serious and comprehensive solutions. What is needed is for countries not to think only in terms of their strategic interests, but also humanely and with compassion.”
Hishammuddin said the threat of IS was becoming increasingly serious with “returning fighters”, who had and would be making their way back to their home shores.
It was vital, he added, to intensify measures focusing on counter-messaging and curbing the underground financial network or “black economy”.
“In Asean, Malaysia has established a deradicalisation centre and is working with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to form a centre in countering narratives and ideologies that underpin terrorism and radicalism in Islam.
“These returning fighters must be monitored and dealt with lest they seek to practise their trade of carnage here in our region.”
Hishammuddin said it would be unwise to write IS off simply because territorial gains had been made against them in Iraq and Syria, as the militant group was a clear and present danger to the Asia-Pacific.
“We have seen this dynamic playing out with a string of planned attacks by the group beyond the Middle East, including in Southeast Asia.”
He said moving forward, it was imperative that military diplomacy in various forms was continued and expanded.
He also said it was not enough to limit efforts to restructure societies to be more socio-economically balanced to defeat extremism, neither could they rely solely on security measures and laws.
“What is needed is comprehensive efforts to ensure that our society’s most vulnerable members, especially young males, are given alternatives to radicalism.
“It is in your hands, my young friends, to determine the shape and character of this future. It is your choice whether this future is just and secure,” he told participants in the discourse.