Acehnese want to go home: Official

Acehnese want to go home: Official

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 120 out of 232 Acehnese asylum seekers detained by Malaysian authorities have agreed to go home, a senior immigration official said on Friday.

Ishak Mohamed, immigration director in northern Perak state, said investigations showed that the 120 migrants were not involved with the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Their relatives living in Malaysia have agreed to pay for their travel home, he said.

"They will be sent back (to Aceh) once all the travel documents are ready," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

The 232 Acehnese, including women and children, were detained on Tuesday as they tried to seek asylum outside the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Kuala Lumpur.

They are currently being held in the Langkap detention center in Perak, which is opposite Aceh across the narrow Malacca Strait. Ishak said the remaining 112 migrants were still being investigated.

"We hope to finish (investigations) within the next few days. Several officers from Perak immigration headquarters are in Langkap to handle this," he said. -- AFP