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A petition calling for the deportation of Rohingya refugees from Malaysia has triggered sharp pushback from civil society groups who say the campaign is spreading misinformation and fuelling real-world violence.
The petition, posted on Change.org under the pseudonym “Aku Anak Malaysia,” claims that the presence of Rohingya refugees has placed growing pressure on Malaysia’s resources, infrastructure and social services.
But rights group Pusat KOMAS says that claim does not hold up to scrutiny — pointing out that the Rohingya community makes up approximately 0.4 per cent of Malaysia’s total population.
“Narratives like this deliberately portray the Rohingya community as only taking from the country,” KOMAS said in a statement, “while ignoring the fact that many of them contribute to Malaysia’s economy despite living in precarious conditions and facing frequent exploitation.”
KOMAS called on Change.org to remove the petition, arguing it violates the platform’s own community guidelines by containing discriminatory content and misleading claims targeting an ethnic group.
More alarming, the group said, is what the petition appears to be enabling beyond the screen — an increase in online calls for physical harm against Rohingya individuals, including threats to attack their homes.
Although the petition creator does not state this explicitly on the platform, this context is important in showing how such petitions are being used with malicious intent.
“A Misreading Of Islam”: ABIM Pushes Back On The Coward Narrative
The same day, the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) issued a separate statement urging Malaysians to step back from what it called a wave of extreme hatred directed at the Rohingya.
ABIM acknowledged that public concerns over security, jobs, and social harmony were real and should not be dismissed — but drew a firm line between legitimate grievance and collective punishment.
Valid anxieties must not turn into hatred against an entire group of people.
ABIM also pushed back against social media narratives labelling Rohingya men as cowards for fleeing Myanmar rather than staying to fight, calling such characterisations a misreading of Islamic teaching.
The group cited Surah al-Anfal, verse 74, which elevates both those who migrate under oppression and those who shelter them as mukminun haqqan — true believers — framing the act of giving refuge as a religious obligation, not merely a humanitarian choice.
ABIM is not a peripheral voice.
Founded in 1971, the organisation carries decades of moral authority in Malaysian civil society — its alumni include Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who served as its president in the 1970s before entering politics, giving the group a credibility that stretches across generations and ideological lines.
The UN Calls It Genocide, Malaysian Law Calls Them Undocumented
Both organisations noted that Malaysia has a history of sheltering refugees from conflict zones, including the Vietnamese, Bosnian Muslims, the Chin community from Myanmar, and refugees from Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan.
The Rohingya are among the world’s most persecuted minorities, having fled a military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State that the United Nations has described as bearing the hallmarks of genocide.
Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, meaning Rohingya refugees have no formal legal status in the country and are technically classified as undocumented migrants.
That legal gap has long complicated efforts to manage the refugee population through formal policy channels, leaving many Rohingya vulnerable to exploitation, detention and deportation.
Meanwhile, Rohingya refugees themselves have begun speaking out, appealing directly to Malaysians to understand what drove them from their homes — not ambition, but survival — and to meet their presence with compassion rather than suspicion.
Firm, But Not Cruel: Civil Society Draws The Line
KOMAS urged the government to address public concerns through structured, evidence-based policy rather than allowing fear and misinformation to drive the national conversation.
ABIM echoed that call, pressing the government to strengthen its approach across security, education, health and community relations — arguing that Malaysia can be firm on sovereignty without abandoning its humanitarian principles.
“We can be firm without being cruel,” ABIM said. “We can manage the refugee challenge effectively without sacrificing the principles of compassion and human dignity.”
Both statements stopped short of calling on the government to grant the Rohingya formal refugee status — a politically sensitive position that neither organisation addressed directly.
How Malaysia responds, ABIM said, will ultimately say more about the country than about the refugees themselves: “The way we treat the most vulnerable will be the mirror of the values we hold as a nation.”
READ MORE: Don’t Blame the People, Fix The System: MCA Man Urges Calm Amid Rohingya Tensions
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Malaysia’s Anti-Rohingya Petition Surges, Now Civil Society Groups Are Pushing Back
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