{"id":14098,"date":"2022-06-09T14:28:43","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T06:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=14098"},"modified":"2022-06-09T14:28:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T06:28:45","slug":"malaysia-commended-for-successfully-rendering-humanitarian-assistance-through-icrc-for-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=14098","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia commended for successfully rendering humanitarian assistance through ICRC for 50 years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9<\/strong> — The\u00a0International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has commended Malaysia\u2019s\u00a0track record for the past 50 years in protecting and assisting victims of war and other violence through ICRC, besides actively promoting International Humanitarian Law (IHL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICRC Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Christine Cipolla, said the world will not forget the episode where hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees were hosted by Malaysia at Bidong Island, Terengganu between 1970s and 1990s before being resettled to other countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ICRC supported the Malaysian Red\u00a0Crescent Society (MRCS) in providing the Mailing and Tracing Service for the\u00a0Vietnamese boat people to keep in touch with their family members back home,\u201d<\/em> she told Bernama in an exclusive interview at ICRC office here in conjunction with 50th\u00a0anniversary celebration of ICRC in Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cipolla who is based in Geneva, Switzerland said in 2004,\u00a0the ICRC had received assistance from the Malaysian authorities to help the Acehnese\u00a0community in Malaysia to restore family links back in Aceh which was affected following a tsunami in the Indonesian province at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"icrc\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

 She said in 2009,  a contribution of RM1 million for ICRC\u2019s protheses programme in Gaza was funded by the Malaysian people and government through MRCS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICRC supported the efforts of MRCS in its vaccination campaigns with\u00a0the My Sukarela app, a platform that\u00a0allows volunteers offer their assistance to organisations in need of voluntary services.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough My Sukarela app, Malaysia\u2019s first app for volunteer work, we hope to help promote volunteerism in Malaysia, inspiring individuals and corporations to contribute to\u00a0humanitarian works,\u201d<\/em> she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ICRC activities in Malaysia can be traced back to as early as World War II. Its permanent presence in Malaysia began following a letter from the then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak in November 1972, approving the establishment of an ICRC regional office, that was formally opened in March the subsequent year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cipolla also said Malaysian authorities have been consistently promoting and integrating IHL in training syllabus for military, besides disseminating them among its population, with the first IHL course organised with the Malaysian armed forces in 1988.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Centre of Military and International Humanitarian Law (CoMIHL) was formed at the National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM) in August 2017 following a strategic\u00a0partnership between the ICRC and NDUM\u00a0to promote and disseminate knowledge of military law and IHL among Malaysian armed forces and the region\u2019s\u00a0wider military and legal communities.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMalaysians should be proud that the country has the\u00a0first-ever regional centre for military and IHL in the region,\u201d<\/em> she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malaysia acceded to the Geneva Conventions in 1962, making 2022 the 60th anniversary of its accession to the core treaties of IHL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the years, Malaysia has become party to many key treaties of international humanitarian law such as the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property, Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons, anti-personnel landmines convention, convention prohibiting chemical weapons and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NMT<\/a> as reported by Bernama<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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