Duterte reiterates PH ready to accept Rohingya refugees

December 24, 2019

President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated on Monday his government's readiness to accept Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.

In a speech in Cotabato City, Duterte said he communicated his administration's desire to accept the refugees.

"The Rohingyas in Burma, if they want to migrate here, I will accept them...our land is big. Those people, the Muslims are pitiful," he said.

He recalled that the Philippines accepted Vietnamese refugees in Palawan decades ago.

"Let us also accept (the Rohingya refugees)," Duterte said, citing the vast land in Mindanao. 

Members of the Muslim ethnic group Rohingya have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since 2017 due to Burmese military crackdown. Celerina Monte/DMS