Malaysia calls for calm and restraint in Myanmar

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has urged for calm and restraint following the recent flareup of violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in a series of tweets yesterday also urged that efforts be undertaken to help ease the suffering of the Rohingya community targeted in the violence.

“We urge for calm and restraint. The dire situation facing our Rohingya brothers and sisters must be alleviated for the good of Myanmar and the region,” said the Prime Minister.

Najib also expressed support for the call made by United Nations secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres on Myanmar to seek a holistic approach to address the crisis.

“We echo the UN secgen’s call for Myanmar’s security forces to seek holistic approaches towards addressing the crisis in Rakhine State,” said Najib yesterday.

On Friday, Guterres warned of a looming humanitarian crisis in western Myanmar following the violence.

The violence erupted on Aug 25 when militants attacked police posts and an army base, provoking a major counteroffensive that reportedly killed around 400 people, mostly Rohingya.

The UN estimated that 38,000 people had sought refuge in Bangladesh due to the recent violence while another 20,000 were massed along its border, barred from entering the country.

Separately, Najib in a posting on his blog www.najibrazak.com, noted that Malaysia’s successes are the result of great sacrifices made by the people.

In the latest posting entitled “Sacrifice and Success”, Najib cited three recent examples of the country’s successes, namely the 29th SEA Games 2017, National Day and Hari Raya Haji.

“The first happiness was when we were crowned overall champions at the 29th SEA Games with the gold medal collection exceeding our target.

“We succeeded in organising and hosting a great SEA Games, especially in the opening and closing ceremonies, which in my observation, are of world standard.

The second joy was on the 60th Merdeka anniversary celebration at Dataran Merdeka which recalled the historic moment.

The celebration featured a procession and recreated the atmosphere on Aug 31, 1957.

“It was as if wewere at the Merdeka Stadium with the first cry of Merdeka which echoed over the land of the country,” he said.

The third happiness was the Hari Raya Haji celebration, which has special meaning to Muslims all over the world, Najib added. — Bernama