KUALA LUMPUR – An online backlash over a Rohingya community’s Hari Raya Haji cattle sacrifice has reignited anti-refugee sentiment in Malaysia.

What began as local complaints over waste disposal after the slaughter of 60 cattle for the korban ritual quickly turned into a wider attack on the refugees’ presence in the country. An online petition launched on June 1 calling for their removal has since attracted more than 130,000 signatures.

Activists say the controversy reflects a familiar pattern in Malaysia, where disputes involving the Rohingya, from jobs and crime allegations to business activities, hygiene concerns and perceived wealth, often fuel wider hostility towards the stateless Muslim minority from Myanmar.

“Every time there is an issue involving one Rohingya individual or group, the anger quickly spreads to the whole community,” said Rohingya youth activist Nur Sadek, a law student at a Malaysian public university under a foreign-funded scholarship.

The controversy began after residents near Jalan Besar Selayang Baru in Selangor raised concerns on May 27 over sanitation following the ritual slaughter, with local media reporting complaints that blood and animal waste had been dumped into nearby drains.

During Hari Raya Haji, also known as Aidiladha, Muslims traditionally sacrifice livestock and distribute the meat to the poor, a practice often crowd-funded by multiple families or backed by international donors and non-governmental organisations pooling resources for marginalised communities.

But the controversy soon expanded beyond hygiene concerns.

Social media users questioned how an impoverished refugee community could afford dozens of cattle reportedly worth hundreds of thousands of ringgit, while critics renewed accusations that Rohingya refugees were burdening public resources and competing for jobs. This was even though local media reported that businesses or workers from a wet market had sponsored the cattle for the Rohingyas.

The petition argues that the growing Rohingya population pressures infrastruct...