RECENTLY, the Royal Malaysian Air Force mobilised two transport aircraft Airbus A-400M to the Al Maza Air Base, Egypt to bring back 40 wounded Palestinians to Malaysia to receive treatment.

The humanitarian mission, however, received mixed reactions from Malaysians. Reacting to the news in a Facebook post, human rights lawyer Siti Kasim lamented the involvement of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, stating that the neighbouring Arab states should be taking the refugees in instead.

Looking through the comments, the bulk of netizens on her page were in agreement with her, stating that it was either a public relation stunt, a costly operation or that these refugees may cause problems later when taken in.

One netizen stated that the neighbouring Arab states exercised wisdom by refraining from admitting the Palestinian refugees.

Another cheekily commented that perhaps it was just the Royal Malaysian Air Force flexing their military muscles.

Siti Sairah raised a point that Malaysia needs to prioritise the rakyat’s welfare first, with the number of local patients in need of treatment.

In response to Siti Kasim, netizen Peggy Felix said the neighbouring Arab states have been doing their part in this humanitarian crisis, although not discernible by Malaysians since the news are carried by the foreign press.

To validate Peggy’s claim, a brief research has been done and here are some statistics to support the fact that the Arab states have not been complacent.

According to Kelsey Norman, director of the Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program at Rice University who spoke to the usnews.com, there are a total of 2.4 million registered Palestinian refugees, close to half of the total of all Palestinian refugees.

Jordan is home to the largest number, followed by Syria (about 584,000) and Lebanon (about 491,000), according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) 2023 estimates.

In Jordan, about 20% of its population are Palestinians and many of them have full citizenship.

In comparison, there are at least 620 Palestinian refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia, according to UNHCR figures. However, some reports indicated that there could be as many as 2,500 of them in the country, with 30 percent of these being students.

The lower number is understandable, considering the geographical distance of Malaysia compared to the neighbouring Arab states. 

In essence, the humanitarian crisis has received attention from far and near. But we can state that prevention is always better than cure, and that the ultimate effort is where guns are traded with talks. - Aug 15, 2024 

https://focusmalaysia.my/malaysian-air-force-intervention-in-palestinian-crisis-raises-concerns-over-arab-states-involvement/