Malaysia's thorny issue

(Baonghean.vn) - The Southeast Asian migration crisis is a test for Malaysia's role as ASEAN Chair in 2015. If this issue is not handled skillfully, Malaysia could easily be accused of failing to fulfill its assigned responsibilities, potentially even damaging the reputation of the entire ASEAN Community.

From the outside, in recent weeks, the international community has voiced strong concerns about the Southeast Asian migration crisis, with the United Nations even openly criticizing Malaysia for turning its back on boats carrying victims of human trafficking.

From its perspective, Malaysia rejects the influx of Rohingya refugees, arguing that readily accepting these refugees is not a viable or long-term solution to the crisis stemming from Myanmar's internal problems.

The President of Myanmar handed over the gavel, symbolizing his ASEAN chairmanship, to the Prime Minister of Malaysia at the Myanmar International Convention Centre. Photo: EPA.

That's the foreign policy aspect; domestically, the crisis also poses challenges for Malaysia. The increasing presence of the Rohingya could create economic, political, and social problems, or raise security concerns within the country.

Moreover, the government is facing a wave of criticism from both the ruling coalition and the opposition for its lack of concrete action to help the Rohingya.

Faced with such challenges, Malaysia agreed with Indonesia to provide temporary shelter for refugees in these countries for one year, after which the international community should assist in resettling them in a third country.

Malaysia cleverly chose this approach to maintain public trust in its ASEAN chairmanship. This move also eased domestic pressure to help the Rohingya, while simultaneously mitigating the negative impact of this minority group's presence. It's a win-win situation!

Objectively speaking, Malaysia also has its own reasons. Opening its borders to the Rohingya is not necessarily a wise solution. In fact, it could send the wrong signal to Myanmar that shifting its internal problems to other countries is an acceptable solution. As a leader, Malaysia is sending a strong message to Myanmar that passing responsibility to other countries goes against the ideals of ASEAN.

Thu Giang