The government of Malaysia should immediately address “hate speech and violent threats” against Rohingya refugees, Fortify Rights and 83 other organizations said on Monday.
The organisations made the call in an open letter to Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
In April 2020, hateful messages targeting the Rohingya community in Malaysia proliferated social media platforms, causing widespread fear of physical violence and discrimination among Rohingya refugees.
“The government should publicly condemn all forms of violence and hate directed at the Rohingya,” said Amy Smith, Executive Director of Fortify Rights.
“The campaign against Rohingya in Malaysia is dangerous, vulgar, and inconsistent with Malaysia’s human rights obligations.”
In the open letter, Fortify Rights, Article 19, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, and others called upon the Malaysian government to “consistently, unequivocally and publicly condemn all forms of hate directed at the Rohingya” and prevent “incendiary” social media from triggering “discriminatory acts or physical attacks” against Rohingya refugees in Malaysia, among other recommendations, according to a media release issued from Bangkok.
In April, users of social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, began posting hateful messages that included discriminatory and dehumanizing language and images as well as calls for Rohingya in Malaysia to be forcibly returned to Myanmar.
Users threatened prominent Rohingya activists as well has their supporters with physical attacks, murder, and sexual violence.
“Some of the locals became angry with the Rohingya, thinking we carried the disease,” a Rohingya refugee and human rights defender in Malaysia told Fortify Rights, referring to unsupported claims sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s become very dark for the Rohingya . . . I was threatened on social media and told to leave the country.”
The organizations in the open letter called on the authorities to “ensure threats and other human rights abuses against the Rohingya and their supporters are investigated, and perpetrators held accountable.”
