14-Jun-21 14:00

Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, Executive Director, Amnesty International Malaysia | Aslam Abd Jalil, postgraduate research in Refugee Policy, University of Queensland

Last Friday, the Malaysian Immigration Department uploaded a poster across all social media platforms, telling Rohingya migrants that they’re not welcomed here. 

The cinematic poster which mirrors that of action films -- think PASKAL or Polis Evo -- contains 3 armed soldiers, and words that read “Migran Etnik Rohingya Kedatangan Anda Tidak Diundang (Ethnic Rohingya migrants, you are not welcomed here).” The poster was eventually taken down by the immigration department after plenty of pushback from social media users. While that was the right move, as with many things on the internet, once it’s uploaded, it will find a way to live on forever, and in this context, live on through forwarded WhatsApp messages. 

But what are the potential impacts of such a poster?

Image source: Malaysian Immigration Department