by, Ainaa Aiman
“I think the government is listening to all these ideas,” he said in a press conference after a visit to the Rohingya Education Centre in Klang today.
He added that the two main ministries involved are the education and health ministries.
“Even though they have not come out with a policy, in many instances both have been very helpful in providing assistance to the Rohingya community,” he said.
He also said the human resources ministry was looking into allowing refugees to work in Malaysia, with a small number of Rohingya already working in local companies which hire refugees.
He added that Malaysia would push for those involved in the ethnic tension in Myanmar to be brought before the International Criminal Court to allow the repatriation of refugees.
“Malaysia is involved in the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, especially those in Bangladesh, to Myanmar,” he said. “It is difficult but it is in progress.”
On the 43 Rohingya refugees who were prevented by Bangladesh authorities from being trafficked to Malaysia by boat, he said, “We hear a lot of issues pertaining to human trafficking and others. We do not reject people coming into Malaysia.”
He acknowledged that Malaysia is not a signatory to the United Nations’ refugee convention.
“But on humanitarian grounds, we don’t send boats away,” he said. “We know we don’t have the capacity to do much more.”
On the water agreement with Singapore, Saifuddin said discussions between Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and his counterpart in Singapore began a month ago.
The agreement, which expires in 2061, entitles Singapore to draw up to 250 million gallons a day (mgd) of raw water from the Johor river. In return, Johor is entitled to a daily supply of treated water of up to 2% or five mgd of the water supplied to Singapore.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently said the prices of goods, including raw water sold to Singapore, must change with the times.
He said the price of raw water sold to the island republic had remained at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons since the agreement was signed in 1962.
“We have yet to come up with an official government policy, but we must be thankful that there are local companies which are sympathetic,” he said.
In 2017, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who was deputy prime minister at the time said there would be a pilot project to allow Rohingya refugees to work in the plantation and manufacturing industries, in a bid to tackle human trafficking and prevent exploitation.
He said the offer was only open to Rohingya refugees who were UNHCR holders and had undergone health and security screenings.
Saifuddin said the results of the project would be taken into consideration, including in allowing refugees to work near their respective communities.
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