Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to highlight the plight of Burma’s ethnic Rohingya community on the international stage.

"I think he (Najib) is in contact with the other leaders of Asean. If he wants, he can also contact US President Barack Obama, the UK prime minister and the German chancellor or whoever he wants to contact in order push this resolution forward.

"I think he can do a lot of things that are not harmful to him,"  he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur after an international on their problems.

The resolution, among others, condemned the violence against ethnic Rohingya and urged the Burmese government to resolve the problem.

Mahathir said it was necessary for nations to voice out on the matter so that Burma would not view the discrimination and violence against Rohingya as legitimate.

Rohingya should go to Australia

He added that Malaysia was also doing its part to help Rohingya refugees in this country but warned that Malaysia could not entertain them "too well".

"There are organisations building schools for them but the problem if we entertain them too well, then it will tempt others to come here.

“We already have refugees not only from Burma, but also from Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and we also have a lot of illegal (immigrants).

"They see this country as a good place to go to but this is not too good as everybody will want to come here as we are a small country. I invite them to go to Australia because Australia has a lot of land," he said.

Mahathir added that a flood of refugees could also affect the local job market.

The conference today titled "International Conference on the Plight of the Rohingya: Solution?" was organised by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF), which was founded by Mahathir.