KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — The Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations of Malaysia (Mapim) is ready to cooperate with the Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) in providing learning opportunities for Rohingya refugee children in this country.
In praising Wisma Putra’s initiative to facilitate the effort, Mapim President Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid said the children were in urgent need of access to education to prevent them from getting involved in social problems.
“Their future depends on education. Refugee children in this country will be vulnerable to social problems if they are not given proper education.
“We opined that the issue of Rohingya children begging in the streets around the capital stems from the fact that they have no access to schools and do not understand the laws in the country,” he said in a statement here, Thursday.
Mohd Azmi pointed out that Mapim will prepare a proposal to be presented to Wisma Putra to establish a long-term cooperation on children of immigrants, including from other countries such as Cambodia, Palestine, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
He said Mapim, which has been helping 15 Rohingya children in the country for the past 10 years, hopes that Wisma Putra’s initiative will make it easier for non-governmental organisation (NGO) in their endeavour to expand educational opportunities for refugee children.
The issue of Rohingya refugees was once again raised recently after a video clip of a Rohingya child chiding people for not giving him alms went viral on social media.
— Bernama
