Re: Violent Threats and ‘Hate Speech’ against Rohingya Community in Malaysia

Your Excellency Tan Sri Dato’ Haji Muhyiddin bin Haji Mohd. Yassin, Prime Minister of Malaysia,

We, the undersigned 84 organizations, write concerning the response of the Government of Malaysia to threats of violence and ‘hate speech’ directed at ethnic Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia.

Starting in the third week of April 2020, hateful messages targeting the Rohingya community in Malaysia have proliferated on social media platforms. Many posts included discriminatory and dehumanizing language and images as well as calls for Rohingya in Malaysia to be forcibly returned to Myanmar. Numerous online petitions calling for the expulsion of Rohingya were launched on Change.org and other platforms. Some petitions garnered thousands of signatures. Online users threatened prominent Rohingya activists, as well as their supporters, with physical attacks, murder and sexual violence…