"Myanmar has expressed dismay after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Rohingyas faced “massacre or genocide”. In an exclusive interview with the Anadolu Agency last week, Mahathir said the Rohingyas “should either be treated as nationals, or they should be given their territory to form their own state.” Myanmar’s Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Myint Thu said such allegations would not help the efforts of Myanmar government and ASEAN in finding a sustainable solution for peace, development and social harmony in Rakhine State. Thu, who met Malaysian Ambassador to Myanmar Zahairi Baharim on Wednesday at Myanmar’s foreign ministry headquarters in Naypyitaw, also said the Malaysian leader’s statement was not constructive and described it as a breach of principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter. “It was also against the ASEAN’s cardinal principles of non-interference in the internal affairs and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of ASEAN member states,” said the ministry in a statement..." Many commentators, however, blamed Myanmar for “buying time” and diverting the international community’s focus, by repeatedly denying crimes it has committed against the Rohingya community in the Rakhine state. Some 750,000 Rohingyas fled state persecution since August 2017 and took shelter in Bangladesh as thousands were killed, raped and hundreds of Rohingya villages were completely burnt. The UN independent investigators late last year called for Myanmar military generals to be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Myanmar denies the allegations. Meanwhile, nearly two years after the mass influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh, the repatriation could not begin as the refugees say the situation in Rakhine is not conducive for return, while there is no guarantee of citizenship, which they have been denied since 1982..."