MALAYSIA URGED TO LEAD ASEAN IN SCALING UP ROHINGYA AID

By Noor Bakthtiar Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s 2025 ASEAN chairmanship presents a pivotal opportunity to increase humanitarian support for the Rohingya population, said the Secretary General of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Chris Lockyear.

He emphasised on the importance of collaborative action across the region and called for the urgent need for ASEAN to boost assistance to Rohingya communities, both within Myanmar and across host countries, including Malaysia and Bangladesh.

He also highlighted that challenges persist in reaching affected populations, particularly within Myanmar’s Rakhine State, where restricted access severely limits aid delivery.

“In Myanmar, our access to Rakhine State has diminished significantly. From our perspective, there’s an urgent need to scale up humanitarian assistance, whether that’s in Myanmar through alternative ways, in Bangladesh, or here in Malaysia.

“There’s clearly a need to increase support for the Rohingya population as a whole,” Lockyear said in an event here, Saturday.

Lockyear suggested that Malaysia should leverage its chairmanship to ensure more rigorous implementation of the Five-Point Consensus to address the Myanmar crisis. 

The country could play a decisive role in bolstering assistance to Myanmar’s Rohingya and in strengthening the framework around refugee policies across the region, he added.

Lockyear encouraged ASEAN to not only focus on immediate humanitarian needs but also to establish a more comprehensive, longer-term strategy to protect Rohingya refugees.

He stressed that such an approach would help ensure legal protections for those fleeing conflict, reduce their reliance on informal employment, and protect them from exploitation.

“I would say any chance to seize an opportunity, whether that’s through ASEAN chairmanship or anything else, should be grasped.

“I don’t think we’re naive enough to think there are magic solutions, but we need to take a rigorous look at refugee policies to ensure assistance can reach those in need and to protect the rights of people fleeing,” Lockyear added.

Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), is a global medical humanitarian organisation founded in 1971.

Operating in more than 70 countries, Doctors Without Borders provides medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, and exclusion from healthcare.

-- BERNAMA