The Philippine offer to the Rohingya boat people

THE Philippine government (through separate statements from Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose) has expressed its willingness to admit and shelter the Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis should their boats land on Philippine shores. The three government officials cited the Philippine commitment to honor the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. They recalled that during World War II the Philippine Commonwealth government granted asylum to 1,500 Jewish refugees and that, after the end of the Vietnam War, the Philippines accommodated the Vietnamese boat people at processing centers in Palawan and Bataan.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, praised the declaration of the government, which, he said, has “a moral obligation to do so.” The Philippines also won praise from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The Ambassador of Bangladesh to Manila expressed his government’s gratitude to the Philippine government.