The Daily Star
Wednesday, "February 27, 2019"
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has offered Filipino citizenship to the Rohingya refugees.
In this picture taken on October 9, 2017, a Rohingya refugee reacts while holding his dead son
after crossing the Naf river from Myanmar into
Bangladesh in Whaikhyang. Photo: AFP
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has offered Filipino citizenship to the Rohingya refugees as he reiterated his willingness to accept them into the country.
“I am willing to accept Rohingyas. ‘Yung talagang walang mapuntahan tatanggapin ko ‘yan, gawain kong Pilipino,” he said in a speech before a convention of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines at the Manila Hotel, reports GMA News, an online portal of a major commercial broadcast company of Philippines.
Duterte said in April last year that the Philippines was willing to provide sanctuary for Rohingya fleeing what he called "genocide” in Myanmar, a remark that prompted a Myanmar government spokesman to respond that the President had no restraint and knew nothing about their country.
The president then issued a public apology to Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for saying genocide was taking place in her country and clarified that he was hitting out at European countries which had accused Myanmar of human rights violations, but did little to help the Rohingya.
The new offer from the Philippines president comes when Bangladesh is facing huge burden of sheltering and providing humanitarian assistance, as well as repatriating them to Myanmar.
Over 750,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state as military began a brutal campaign since August 2017, joining some 300,000 Rohingya, who had fled to Bangladesh following previous waves of violence in Rakhine where they are denied citizenship.
The United Nations and several Western countries have accused Myanmar of ethnic cleansing, which Myanmar denies. Human rights organisations termed it genocide and crimes against humanity.
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said last year that the Philippines had facilities that could accommodate refugees, citing a processing center in Bataan.
Roque added that the Philippine government had an "open-door policy" for refugees.
In 1975, the Philippine government accommodated thousands of Vietnamese refugees who fled their country after the Vietnam War ended. The facility Roque cited, the Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC), hosted many of them.
The Philippines under then-President Manuel Quezon gave refuge to Jews escaping the Holocaust in the late 1930s.
“I am willing to accept Rohingyas. ‘Yung talagang walang mapuntahan tatanggapin ko ‘yan, gawain kong Pilipino,” he said in a speech before a convention of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines at the Manila Hotel, reports GMA News, an online portal of a major commercial broadcast company of Philippines.
Duterte said in April last year that the Philippines was willing to provide sanctuary for Rohingya fleeing what he called "genocide” in Myanmar, a remark that prompted a Myanmar government spokesman to respond that the President had no restraint and knew nothing about their country.
The president then issued a public apology to Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for saying genocide was taking place in her country and clarified that he was hitting out at European countries which had accused Myanmar of human rights violations, but did little to help the Rohingya.
The new offer from the Philippines president comes when Bangladesh is facing huge burden of sheltering and providing humanitarian assistance, as well as repatriating them to Myanmar.
Over 750,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state as military began a brutal campaign since August 2017, joining some 300,000 Rohingya, who had fled to Bangladesh following previous waves of violence in Rakhine where they are denied citizenship.
The United Nations and several Western countries have accused Myanmar of ethnic cleansing, which Myanmar denies. Human rights organisations termed it genocide and crimes against humanity.
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said last year that the Philippines had facilities that could accommodate refugees, citing a processing center in Bataan.
Roque added that the Philippine government had an "open-door policy" for refugees.
In 1975, the Philippine government accommodated thousands of Vietnamese refugees who fled their country after the Vietnam War ended. The facility Roque cited, the Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC), hosted many of them.
The Philippines under then-President Manuel Quezon gave refuge to Jews escaping the Holocaust in the late 1930s.
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