DAVAO CITY – The International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS-Philippines) slammed the Aquino government for its “opportunistic stand” on the Rohingya crisis.
News reports said that the Philippines would “push back the Rohingya boat people”.
On Monday (May 18), as the crisis alarmed the region amid growing pressures from world opinion, Malacanang Palace denied the earlier reports and said that the government is “open to sheltering up to 3,000” of the refugees.
Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. pointed out that the Philippines signed the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Three days later (May 21), Coloma said that they will “limit” the help as they are “constrained by resource limitations” because of the rehabilitation efforts in areas affected by Typhoon Yolanda.
“It appeared to be a principled stand of the Philippine government. But, then again, it was not,” ILPS-Phils said in their statement.
ILPS said using the rehabilitation efforts in areas affected by typhoon “was a lame excuse.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has requested the Philippines to send ships to rescue the boat people in Indonesian and Malaysian seas. Malacanang, however, has yet to endorse the request.
“The Aquino government, after opening its doors wide open, is now saying that it will just leave its door slightly ajar. This was after Malaysia and Indonesia have of late already agreed to give temporary shelter to the refugees,” the ILPS-Phils said.
The international group also slammed the United States for using the Rohingya crisis to intervene in the region.
“Not a single refugee boat was rescued by the US despite its bases and heavy presence in the region. Yet, the US will be joining a 15-nation regional meeting on the issue scheduled on May 29 in Bangkok,” the ILPS-Phils said.
“[President Benigno Aquino’s] Department of Foreign Affairs could have saved more resources for the refugees and our own compatriots stranded abroad rather than spending for its delegates in a meeting that it can merely observe,” it added.
