MAPIM ready to cooperate with Wisma Putra on education for Rohingya children

KUALA LUMPUR: 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.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah on Wednesday said Wisma Putra is emphasising on the educational aspect to help find a solution to the Rohingya refugee issue in the country, as education will also help facilitate their resettlement in third country.

He noted that the ministry was looking at ways to empower and increase funding for refugee schools run by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to ensure that Rohingya refugee children in the country do not drop out of the education system.

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