(May 15): After receiving brickbats from the international community for turning away refugees at sea, Putrajaya said today it is taking the "necessary action" to deal with the humanitarian crisis that has escalated in the last few days.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also promised action against human traffickers but remained silent on specific and immediate steps to help the scores of starving Rohingya and Bangladeshi adrift at sea after being turned away from countries in the region, including Malaysia.

“Malaysia does not and will not tolerate any form of human trafficking. Anyone found to be perpetrating this injustice and contravening our laws will be held accountable," Najib said today.

Malaysia, which holds the chairmanship of Asean, has been asked to do more to address the crisis by pressuring Myanmar to stop persecuting the ethnic Rohingya minority.

Najib said the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the National Security Council were already in the midst of taking steps to help the refugees.

"I am very concerned with the plight of migrants in our region, some of whom have already reached our shores and still others who are trying.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Council are taking the necessary actions to deal with this humanitarian crisis."

"This is an issue of international and regional importance. We are in contact with all relevant parties, with whom we share the desire to find a solution to this crisis."

Malaysia has come under severe criticism after reports emerged that it was turning away boat loads of Rohingya refugees who were fleeing Myanmar in the face of persecution.

More than 1.3 million Rohingya – viewed by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities – live in Myanmar's western Rakhine state.

AFP reported yesterday that Malaysia had turned away two boats carrying hundreds of migrants after supplying them with fuel and provisions.

Earlier this week, about 1,000 Rohingya and Bangladesh nationals were abandoned by people smugglers and swam to shore on Langkawi, an resort island in the north of Malaysia's peninsula. They are now in immigration custody.

Klang MP Charles Santiago earlier hit out at Putrajaya, saying that Malaysia's chairmanship of Asean can be considered a failure if Najib did not reprimand Myanmar for causing the exodus of Rohingya refugees.

"Malaysia is the chair of Asean and it was also instrumental in bringing Myanmar into the 10-member bloc.

"We need Najib, as the head of state, to reprimand Myanmar and hold its quasi-civilian government accountable for the targeted persecution and killings of the Rohingya," Santiago said.

"Despite the uproar, Najib is silent… and Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean would have been a failure," he added.

PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail also said Putrajaya must show leadership in the matter, as Malaysia was head of Asean's Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. – The Malaysian Insider