PM to attend solidarity gathering for Rohingya as Umno president

DATUK Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak said he will attend the Rohingya Solidarity Gathering in the national capital today in his capacity as Umno president.

In his winding up speech on the debate on the motions at the end of the 2016 Umno General Assembly, Najib condemned in the strongest terms the racial genocide that was reported to be taking place in Myanmar.

The solidarity gathering, he said, was not aimed at interfering in the internal affairs of Myanmar, as said in a statement by the Office of the President of Myanmar, on the other hand it was to defend humanitarian values.

“God willing, tomorrow Umno president Najib Razak will attend. I will not move even an inch because it is not Najib Razak who is attending, (it is) Najib Razak (who)is representing three million Umno members (attending), this is our stand, this is a party with a big heart,” he said to the thunderous applause of the delegates at the gathering.

Prior to that, the Umno president asked the delegates at the gathering whether he should attend and he received the resounding answer ‘attend!!’ from them.

Najib, who is also Prime Minister, said if the problem was not resolved, Malaysia itself would be facing the problem of the influx of refugees from Myanmar.

According to the record, there are currently 56,000 Rohingya and Myanmar holding the United Nations High Commission For Refugees (UNHCR) cards in the country, and there are others not on record, whose number is not known, he added.

The peaceful solidarity gathering to express the concern of the Malaysian society on the issue of the Rohingya is scheduled to take place in the national capital today, which Najib and PAS presdent Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang are set to attend.

Najib said the cruelty perpetrated on the ethnic Rohingya did not at all symbolise the Asean Community, which among others stress on unity.

“If they are cruel to people, burn humans alive, rape women without compassion, children are chopped up alive..it is not an Asean Community which we can accept.

“The Asean region cannot compromise on cruelty, we appeal to them to mend their ways. This is Umno’s stand, come what may ... we stick to our stand,” Najib stressed. — Bernama