Jangan hukum semua pelarian hanya ‘dosa’ individu, kata Ahli Parlimen PAS

Pengkalan Chepa MP Ahmad Marzuk Shaary has urged the Malaysian public not to discriminate against all asylum seekers solely because of the actions of an individual. According to him, asylum seekers who break the law should be investigated and brought to court, but an individual's personal mistake should not be used as justification for penalizing an entire nation and community.

He was speaking as part of a special parliamentary task force report on managing refugees in Malaysia. The PAS MP also denied supporting sentiments of xenophobia and opposed criminal acts of asylum-seeking. He warned that some people are trying to portray the entire Rohingya and refugee community as criminals, which is untrue. The Malaysian public should not let their dissatisfaction with the government's inability to manage the refugee situation affect how they treat the community.

In July, there were reports of a wave of attacks against Rohingya residents in the country, causing concern among human rights groups and raising fears of xenophobia and targeting the refugee community. Anti-Rohingya sentiment spiked at the end of May following social media posts alleging that they threw cow carcasses during the Hari Raya Haji celebrations.

This incident sparked an online petition urging the government to relocate Rohingya refugees to another country, which garnered nearly half a million signatures before being dismissed.