Posts misrepresent scuffle at community event to fuel anti-Rohingya hostility in Malaysia
- Published on June 24, 2026 at 10:15
- Updated on June 24, 2026 at 10:28
- 2 min read
- By AFP Malaysia
As an online petition calling for Rohingya refugees to be removed from Malaysia in part because of "security concerns" amassed hundreds of thousands of signatures, a video was shared in posts falsely claiming it showed members of the minority group attacking embassy guards. The video shows neither Rohingya refugees nor embassy guards; it in fact shows a scuffle between Chin refugees from Myanmar and security staff outside a school in Kuala Lumpur, where the Chin Refugee Committee was holding an anniversary event.
"Foreigners from Myanmar are causing trouble and attacking Rela members in our country," says part of the Malay-language caption of a Facebook video shared on June 10, 2026, referring to the government-backed Malaysian Volunteer Corps (RELA) (archived link).
The video shows a crowd gathered outside a locked gate, shouting as two people attempt to climb over while security personnel on the other side tell them to get down.
The Facebook caption claims the incident took place at the Myanmar embassy, and superimposed text on the video says "Rohingya beats up RELA member".
The clip also circulated in similar Facebook, Threads and Instagram posts.
It surfaced as an online petition calling for the Malaysian government to resettle Rohingya refugees in another country garnered nearly half a million signatures before it was removed by the platform.
The South China Morning Post reported the petition claimed the presence of Rohingya refugees had placed a "growing strain on resources, infrastructure and social services" (archived link). It said their presence raised "security concerns" and stoked fear in local communities.
Each year thousands of the mostly Muslim Rohingya, heavily persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, risk their lives on long, expensive sea journeys -- often in poor-quality vessels -- in an attempt to reach Muslim-majority Malaysia or Indonesia.
There are about 126,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Malaysia, according to a United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimate from the end of February (archived link).
NGOs have raised the alarm about rising hate speech and intimidation targeting the Rohingya, with activists saying disputes involving the Rohingya often fuel wider hostility (archived here and here).
The circulating video appears to be an attempt to vilify the group; it does not show Rohingya refugees attacking Malaysian security staff at the Myanmar embassy.
Chin community event
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to a now-deleted Facebook clip posted by a user who has also posted other clips from a meet-and-greet with a UFC fighter organised by the Chin Refugee Committee (CRC).
The group works to provide social services and promote the protection of Chin refugees in Malaysia.
A subsequent search on the CRC's Facebook page found a livestream of its 25th anniversary celebration shared on May 27 (archived link). According to the post, the event took place at SJK(C) Chung Kwo, a Chinese school in Kuala Lumpur that rents out its hall for events (archived link).
The outside of the school can be seen in the falsely shared video, and the footage corresponds to Google Street View imagery of the institution (archived link).
CRC chairman Paul Ngun Luai Thang told AFP that a scuffle broke out between anniversary attendees and security personnel at the event.
"During the event, our members... tried to climb the gate to enter the hall, but it was already full," he said on June 19.
AFP has previously debunked other false claims targeting Rohingya refugees.
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