KUALA LUMPUR: Humanitarian crises have the potential to assume political and security dimensions if not properly managed.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, in referring to the situation faced by Rohingya in Myanmar, said a problem in one country could lead to the destabilisation of their neighbours and those in the region.

“The Rohingya issue is one such problem which requires urgent, serious and comprehensive solutions.

“What is needed is for countries not only to think in terms if their strategic interests but also humanely with compassion.”

He said this in his special address titled ‘The New Global Security Landscape: Challenges and Solutions’ at the 2016 Kuala Lumpur International Youth Discourse at Putra World Trade Centre here, today.

Hishammuddin also said the threat of the Islamic State (IS) was becoming increasingly serious, with the “returning fighters” who had and would be making their way back to their shores.

It was vital, he added, to intensify measures, focusing on areas such as counter messaging and curbing the underground financial network or black economy.

“In Asean, Malaysia has established a deradicalisation centre and is working with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to form a centre in countering narratives and ideologies that underpins terrorism and radicalism in Islam.

“These returning fighters must be closely monitored and dealt with lest they seek to practice their trade of carnage here in our region,” he said.

-New Straits Times