This followed a recent report by a conflict think tank which said many Southeast Asians, particularly Indonesians and Malaysians, want to help the Rohingya in their armed resistance against Myanmar’s security forces.
Malaysia’s counter-terrorism police division meanwhile has not discounted the possibility that some Malaysians want to participate in waging “jihad” against the alleged oppressors of the Rohingya.
“People intent on sneaking into Myanmar from the Bangladesh side have to take a boat to cross the strait,” Mohd Rafiq Khairul Bashar, chairman of the Ethnic Rohingya Committee of Arakan Malaysia here, told FMT.
“They have to start from Sabrang or Teknaf in Bangladesh and cross the waters into Maungdaw, a town in Rakhine state in Myanmar.
“From Maungdaw, it’s only two to three hours’ drive to the conflict areas.”
Rafiq however urged Malaysians to refrain from doing this as it could be against the law.
“I think to do so could land them in trouble with the law. As police have said, they’re monitoring for this new possibility, so it’s better to do as the government says.
“What we need more now is not fighters, but help in terms of basic necessities and diplomacy so that the conflict can be resolved peacefully.”
Malaysian police have said they will monitor for possible Islamic State-linked cells in the country trying to incite Rohingya refugees to return home and fight the government in the name of the terror group.
However, Rafiq said he had not heard of such recruitment taking place, adding that the committee would report the matter to security agencies if it came across any information on it.
“We’ll keep an eye out for such a possibility, and I hope the Rohingya community in Malaysia will remain alert against such an undertaking by people supportive of terrorists.”
Meanwhile, a Bangkok-based conflict expert who wished to remain anonymous told FMT that he had not heard of aspiring fighters transiting through Thailand to join the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) so far.
“It’s possible, of course, but entering from Thailand means that they would be on the wrong side of Myanmar for the fight, so to speak.
“Given the scale of the problem and the intensity of feelings it has aroused in parts of Southeast Asia, I’ll be keeping my ears open for more information on this possibility.”
The fighting between Arsa and Myanmar forces is reportedly taking place in Rakhine state, closer to the nation’s border with Bangladesh in the west, while Thailand sits farther to the east.
In an earlier FMT report, the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (Ipac) warned that many Southeast Asians were eager to join the fight in Myanmar despite Arsa’s apparent lack of machinery to receive would-be fighters from neighbouring countries.
“I think many want to go,” Ipac director Sydney Jones had told FMT.
“For example, thousands of Indonesians are reported to have signed up through the FPI (Islamic Defenders Front) and other such groups, but they have no channel for getting in.
“Indonesian and Malaysian mujahidin (jihadist fighters) have long been interested in helping their persecuted brethren in Myanmar, but have had no good channel for doing so,” the Ipac report added.
Bukit Aman anti-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay had said it was possible that would-be Malaysian jihadist fighters were seeing similarities between the current troubles in Myanmar and the 1999-2002 conflict in Ambon, Indonesia, between Christians and Muslims.
“During the Indonesian conflict, VCDs were distributed throughout Malaysia to recruit people to fight in Ambon,” Ayob had told FMT.
“It could be the same with the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar.
“We aren’t saying yet that such a recruitment exists, but we will keep monitoring for this new possibility.”
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state to escape religious persecution and to avoid being trapped in the fighting between government troops and Arsa.
Arsa recently announced a month-long ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to reach the Rohingya refugees.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was quoted as saying on Wednesday that ethnic cleansing was taking place in Myanmar against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
He added that the UN Security Council condemned the violence that has led to nearly 380,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh.