Human trafficking: Malaysia mulls holding mini ASEAN summit - Najib

Malaysia is mulling over the idea to hold a mini ASEAN summit to enable ASEAN member countries to discuss and find solutions to the issue of human trafficking, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said.

The prime minister said he had asked Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman to study the possibility for Malaysia to organise the mini summit.

"ASEAN must come together...I'm willing to host the mini ASEAN summit, but we must ask for the cooperation from the relevant countries.

"I have asked the foreign minister to study the possibility for Malaysia to play host to the mini ASEAN summit, so that we can find solutions (to the issue) at ASEAN level," he told reporters after attending the presentation of Desa Sejahtera 1Malaysia Award in Kurong Tengar, Kuala Perlis near here Saturday.

Najib said this in response to the issue of human trafficking, especially involving Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladesh, following the discovery of camps and burial sites of victims of human trafficking in Perlis recently.

Najib said the issue of human trafficking was an ASEAN and international issue, hence should be solved at ASEAN and international levels.

"We must find the solutions to this issue at the ASEAN level and also at the international level. The international community should also play their roles.

This is not a responsibility of one country alone, this is an issue that should be tackled collectively," he said.

As the main cause of the issue, Myanmar should also play a role to ensure that it would not prolong, he said.

The prime minister said although ASEAN conformed to the principle of non-interference, it was still hoped that the problems faced by a certain member country would not affect other members of the association.

"Whatever they do, we hope it will not spread to the extent of causing deaths and tarnish the image of ASEAN," he said.

On the future of the Rohingya refugees currently placed at detention camps, Najib said the government had yet to make any decision on them.

"We just want to save their lives first," he said.

The government had earlier announced that the Rohinga and Bangladeshi refugees rescued at sea would be placed at the National Service Training camps in Sik and Baling, Kedah.

So far, over 1,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees who landed in Langkawi, had been taken to the Belantik Immigration depot in Sik, Kedah.