KL puts Acehnese refugees at risk with deportations: Report<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nKuala Lumpur\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Malaysian government is forcibly returning Indonesian
\nrefugees from Aceh province to Indonesia where their safety is at
\nrisk amid a continuing conflict there, Human Rights Watch said in
\na report released on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The report documents Malaysia's deportations of refugees and
\nasylum-seekers from Aceh and the mistreatment of Acehnese
\nrefugees while in Malaysia, the New York-based group said.<\/p>\n
The group accuses Malaysian authorities of violating their
\ninternational legal obligations by failing to distinguish between
\nAcehnese refugees fleeing conflict and other undocumented
\nIndonesians in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Under international law, UN-recognized refugees cannot be
\ndeported against their will. But Malaysia is not a signatory to
\nthe 1951 UN Refugee Convention, and does not recognize political
\nrefugees.<\/p>\n
\"Acehnese are fleeing a brutal conflict, marked by massive
\nhuman rights violations,\" said Brad Adams, executive director of
\nHuman Rights Watch's Asia division.<\/p>\n
\"Instead of deporting, detaining and abusing them, Malaysia
\nshould recognize its legal obligations and offer them a safe
\nplace of refuge until it is safe to go home.\"<\/p>\n
Malaysian officials weren't immediately available to comment
\non the report. But the government has repeatedly defended the
\ndeportations, saying that all Acehnese detained in Malaysia were
\nillegal immigrants, and that they should be repatriated to deter
\nmore illegal immigration.<\/p>\n
\"The Malaysian government claims that Acehnese refugees are
\nillegal immigrants,\" said Adams. \"In fact, Malaysia itself is
\nacting illegally by forcibly returning them to a place where
\ntheir lives are in danger.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia last May declared martial law in Aceh and launched
\nan all-out offensive aimed at crushing separatist rebels of the
\nFree Aceh Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
In a report last December, Human Rights Watch said Acehnese
\nrefugees in Malaysia had spoken of abuses against civilians by
\nIndonesian security forces, including extrajudicial executions,
\nforced disappearances, beatings and arbitrary arrests.<\/p>\n
Indonesia described the claims as baseless and said there had
\nbeen no report of a new wave of refugees from Aceh to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Watch says \"thousands\" of Acehnese have sought
\nsafety in Malaysia since the military operation began last year.<\/p>\n
Once they reach Malaysia, however, Acehnese refugees regularly
\nface abuse by Malaysian police including arrest, raids on refugee
\nsettlements and extortion, Human Rights Watch said.<\/p>\n
\"They burned eight huts and the canteen,\" one Acehnese refugee
\ntold Human Rights Watch. \"I lost all my clothes, my passport,
\neverything! Everybody ran. It was the Malaysian police.\"<\/p>\n
GAM, which has also been accused of rights abuses, has been
\nfighting since 1976 for independence for the province on the
\nnorthern tip of Sumatra island. More than 12,000 people have died
\nin the conflict, including at least 1,500 since last year - most
\nof them unarmed villagers caught in army search-and-destroy
\nraids, human rights groups say.<\/p>\n
Wealthy, stable Malaysia has long attracted migrants, many
\nfleeing poverty or violence, from around Southeast Asia. Though
\nit relies heavily on foreign laborers for menial work, it has
\ndeported hundreds of thousands of immigrants in recent years amid
\nclaims of rising crime among migrants.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kl-puts-acehnese-refugees-at-risk-with-deportations-report-1447893297",
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