MP SPEAKS Has anyone seen the Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak?

We have a regional humanitarian crisis, a catastrophe, with thousands of Rohingya refugees adrift at sea and many more facing possible deportation to Burma.

And yet we have not heard a whimper from Najib. We understand he is struggling to hold on to power following the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, which has brought about veiled calls for his resignation.

But this is no excuse.

Malaysia is the chair of Asean and it was also instrumental in bringing Burma into the ten-member bloc.

We welcome deputy home minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar's statement asking the region to send a strong message to Burma to stop persecuting the minority Rohingya community.

But this is not enough. We need Najib, as the head of state, to reprimand Burma and hold its quasi-civilian government accountable for the targeted persecution and killings of the Rohingya.

We need the premier and his cabinet members to be on the same page. Wan Junaidi recently said the Rohingya should sail back to Burma if their rickety boats are fine, as there is no war back home.

This is sheer ignorance.

M'sia roundly criticised

Burma’s state-sponsored violence has been unleashed against the Rohingya for decades now.

They became stateless in their home country, when the 1982 Citizenship Law robbed them off their citizenship.

Now they are at the mercy of Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, which are adamant about turning back the boats to sea.

And Malaysia has no qualms sending those detained over the last few days back, to face violence and death in Burma.

The United Nations has criticised Malaysia for its decision.

Opposition political leaders, human rights workers and civil society have vehemently condemned Malaysia for its inhumane treatment of the Rohingya refugees.

And even Malaysia's former cabinet member Syed Hamid Albar has said the Rohingya refugees must be allowed to land here.

Despite the uproar, Najib is silent.

If he doesn't make a stand now and if he fails to stand up to the atrocities committed by Burma, Najib will most certainly go down in Malaysia's political history as a lame duck prime minister.

And Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean would have been a failure.

CHARLES SANTIAGO is Klang MP