Kuala lumpur: In Malaysia, a wave of hate speech has been targeting Rohingya refugees, a Muslim minority driven out of Myanmar. The rising hostility has already led to the eviction of more than 100 people from a village and forced the temporary closure of schools serving refugee children. According to France24.com, Malaysia was once regarded as a safe haven for Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. However, this perception began to change in 2020, with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, as hate speech surfaced online. Recently, anti-Rohingya rhetoric has manifested in various forms, including disinformation, a petition urging the Malaysian prime minister to expel them which garnered over 400,000 signatures before its removal, and slogans such as "Save Malaysia from the Rohingya." The FRANCE 24 Observers team interviewed a representative from the NGO Article 19, who chose to remain anonymous for security reasons. She stated, "The recent wave of hate speech against the Rohin gya refugees has been one of the most intense on the volume of it, on the scale of it, and it lasted longer than previous times." She highlighted that false narratives are being spread, portraying the refugees as economic migrants rather than victims fleeing genocide and violence in Myanmar. Hostile slogans emerged this summer in the village of Kuala Muda, in the state of Penang, where Rohingya families have resided for years. More than a hundred of them fled the village at the end of July, seeking refuge in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. In July, Malaysia's government announced plans to repatriate 5,000 Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar. Human rights groups cautioned against this move, pointing out the potential dangers the refugees might face. Consequently, the government reversed its decision, stating that the refugees would not be deported if they faced persecution.