PH willing, ready to accept Rohingya refugees: Roque

TANAUAN, Leyte, April 9  -- President Rodrigo R. Duterte is serious in taking in Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, citing the historical tradition of the country to accept foreigners fleeing war and persecution in their home countries.

“The President is always serious with what he says. What we are saying, don’t take him literally, but take him seriously,” said Roque, responding to questions from the media if the President is indeed willing to take in refugees.

Providing shelter to Rohingya ethnic group is not a major concern, according to Roque since the country used to have a refugee processing center in Bataan.

“The Philippines has always had an open door policy for refugees. If you can remember, we were the processing zone for the Vietnamese refugees,” Roque said during the press briefing at the town hall here Sunday afternoon.

The Palace spokesperson was referring to the period between 1975 to 1992, during which, Vietnamese “boat people” fleeing the Vietnam War came to Bataan and Palawan.

“We have no problem if many Rohingya people would come. We have infrastructures and places where we can bring them,” Roque added.

The Rohingya are often described as "the world's most persecuted minority." They are an ethnic group, majority of whom are Muslim, who have lived for centuries in Myanmar. Currently, there are about 1.1 million Rohingyas in the Southeast Asian country.

The Philippines’ open door policy to refugees can be traced back to 1923 when the country took in the first wave of White Russians fleeing from the Socialist Revolution, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The country also admitted Jewish refugees in 1934, Spanish Republicans in 1939, Chinese refugees in 1940, White Russians in 1949, Vietnamese “boat people” in 1975, Iranian refugees in 1979, Indo-Chinese refugees in 1980, and East Timor refugees in 2000. (SQM/PNA)