UNB, Dhaka :In a major breakthrough that could ease to some extant the Southeast Asia’s migrant crisis, the Malaysian Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) has offered to hire the Rohingya and Bangladeshi boat migrants who have been temporarily allowed to land in Malaysia.Presma president Noorul Hassan Saul Hameed said if the proposal is not contrary to any government policy, the migrants are welcome to work at any of the restaurants affiliated to the association, according a report of Malaysian the Star Online posted on Thursday.”We would like to extend our help to the victims who are just like our brothers and sisters,” Saul Hameed said on Wednesday. He said, many of its members have expressed willingness to provide job opportunities to the migrants to help them stand on their own feet.”We’re not forcing the Government or our members. We’re proposing this on a humanitarian basis, as some of our members have expressed willingness to help the migrants. We have to understand that if they are allowed to land on our shores, they still need to feed their families. If they have jobs, they are less likely to be involved in social problems or crime,” he said.Media reports claimed that there were over 8,000 Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshis still at sea in their attempts to enter Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand illegally.Meanwhile, Malaysian Medical Relief Society (Mercy Malaysia) on Thursday has begun its humanitarian relief effort to the Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees in the Belantik detention centre in Kedah, said report of Malaysian state-run news agency BERNAMA. Earlier on Wednesday, Responding to the tremendous international pressure, Malaysia and Indonesia finally agreed to offer humanitarian assistance and temporary shelter to the 7,000 migrants, including Bangladeshis, stranded at the sea and said they will not turn away migrant vessels.
