Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, who heads Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia, said that although the government had shown solidarity with the Rohingya community, more needed to be done.

It was time for Malaysia and other countries to follow in the footsteps of the United States by acknowledging the violence committed by the Myanmar military against minority groups.

He said the government could file a case at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court to punish and prosecute Myanmar’s military.

“The Rohingya community is one of the most deprived and exploited minority groups in the world today,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar since 2017 after a military crackdown that is now the subject of a genocide case at the United Nation’s highest court in The Hague.

Zafar said he hoped the government could do more for the community. It was not enough merely to allow Rohingyas into the country. “You can’t just give us an empty plate,” he said, adding the refugees needed access to employment, education and health services.

Zafar also suggested that Putrajaya could set up a website to let Malaysians understand and gain more knowledge on what’s happening to the Rohingyas.

The UN refugee agency in Malaysia says that more than 150,000 Rohingyas, Chins, and members of other ethnic groups in Myanmar are registered with the agency.

The agency said Rohingyas have limited access to basic services, including the right to work, healthcare and education services adding that many are at risk of exploitation, and detention.