KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Saturday defended its stance against the persecution of ethnic Rohingya after facing criticism from Myanmar for breaching Asean's pact of non-interference.
"The high number of Rohingya people in Malaysia (approximately 56,000) under the UNHCR banner, coupled with hundreds of thousands in other neighbouring countries, makes this matter no longer an internal matter but an international matter," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"The fact that only one particular ethnicity is being driven out is, by definition, ethnic cleansing."
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as of the end of October this year, there were some 150,669 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with its office in Malaysia. Almost 90% are from Myanmar, of whom 40%, or 54,856, are ethnic Rohingya.
The Malaysian statement came as a rebuttal to comments made by Zaw Htay, deputy director-general of the President's Office in Myanmar, who took exception to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's decision to attend a rally on Sunday to protest against Myanmar's military operation in Rakhine State.
"According to Asean principles, a member country does not interfere in other member countries' internal affairs. We have always followed and respected [these] principles. We hope that the Malaysian government will continue" to follow them, Zaw Htay told The Myanmar Times.
He said his government would summon the Malaysian ambassador to receive an explanation about the rally that Malaysia said would show "Muslim solidarity with Rohingya".
Najib's motive for supporting the rally may go beyond sympathy for an oppressed minority, however. He is also looking to burnish his credentials with Muslim voters in the face of serious corruption allegations that have dogged his government for the past two years.
Criminal investigations are taking place in six countries into the looting of billions of dollars from 1MDB, the Malaysian state investment fund that Najib created. So far, he has managed to sidenline any Malaysian authorities attempting to get to the bottom of the scandal.
The Malaysian Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, criticised Zaw Htay in its statement on Saturday.
"Malaysia need not remind U Zaw Htay of the 2015 boat people crisis which eventually became a regional issue with Myanmar's neighbours taking the brunt of the burden," the ministry said. "This is in keeping with Malaysia's position that this is not a religious issue but an immediate humanitarian concern."
A Muslim majority country, Malaysia had taken up the cause of the Rohingya, with the issue even discussed by Najib's cabinet on Nov 25 culminating in the Myanmar ambassador being called in.
The Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement the same day condemning the escalating violence, while hundreds of people staged a protest outside the Myanmar embassy in Kuala Lumpur after mosques nationwide held special prayers.
Tension between the Rohingya and the government of the predominantly Buddhist country boiled over in October when nine police officers were killed and five others injured during an ambush blamed on Rohingya militants. The military alleges the militants might have support from Islamist radicals outside the country.
Myanmar has refused to recognise the Rohingya, most of whom have lived in the country for generations, and has instead branded them as immigrants from Bangladesh, depriving them of rights as citizens.
As violence mounts with dozens, mostly Rohingya, killed, thousands have been forced to flee their villages.
The rally planned for a stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday morning will also feature Hadi Awang, head of the Pan Islamic Party, the largest opposition party popularly known by its Malay acronym PAS.
Najib's party -- the United Malays National Organisation or Umno -- has been courting PAS which has an estranged relationship with the other opposition parties. This has led some political pundits to see the rally as more to shore up the Muslim credentials of the respective parties ahead of the general election that many expect to be called early next year.