By ZUHRIN AZAM AHMAD
PUTRAJAYA: The clashes between Myanmar nationals in the Klang Valley recently that saw four people killed are not related to religious violence in their home country, Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister U Zin Yaw (pic) said.
He said the fights were between rival gangs of those who had lived in the country.
“I have discovered that it was some kind of gang (fights).
“I met some (Myanmar) people there (the Selayang area) and found out that there are factions among them and (the clashes) were not because of religious concerns,” he said here yesterday.
U Zin earlier met Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tunku Jaafar for nearly an hour where they discussed the matter and steps to resolve the issue.
U Zin, who was accompanied by Deputy Labour, Employment and Social Security Minister Daw Win Maw Tun, arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday to get first-hand information on the incidents and help diffuse the situation.
“It was not a fight between (Myanmar) Muslims and Buddhists and no Malaysian was involved,” he said.
U Zin also expressed satisfaction with the way Malaysian authorities handled the incidents and urged Myanmar nationals in the country to cooperate with them.
He said they were allowed to meet those who had been detained during the operations to thwart violence.
“The deputy minister arranged for us to visit the detention camp.
“The Malaysian Government also allowed us to make arrangements for them if they want to stay or continue working here.
“Some want to go back to Myanmar so we need to make arrangements for them to return quickly and we ask for protection for the workers who would like to work longer here,” he said.
U Zin estimated that there were about 300,000 Myanmar workers in Malaysia and about 200,000 were legally employed.
Seven clashes involving Myanmar nationals were reported in Kuala Lumpur and parts of Selangor between May 30 and June 4 and it was reported that police picked up about 1,000 Myanmar nationals to avert more clashes between feuding factions.
