JP/3/aceh
Police to question Acehnese asylum seekers
Apriadi Gunawan and Nani Farida The Jakarta Post Medan/Banda Aceh
At least 232 Acehnese people seeking political asylum in Malaysia are likely to face probes into their possible involvement with the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on their arrival home in Indonesia, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Sunday in Langkat regency, North Sumatra.
"The investigations will be conducted by a special team set up by the National Police Headquarters," he explained.
Da'i had said earlier on Saturday in Aceh that the asylum seekers would be individually questioned but denied that the probe was a "repressive measure." It was aimed at upholding existing legal procedures, he said, without further elaboration.
However, seeking political asylum is not a crime under Indonesian law.
The 232 asylum seekers were arrested in Malaysia last Tuesday as they converged outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) building in the capital Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian government has decided to deport them back to Indonesia. However, Da'i was unsure when the asylum seekers would be repatriated home. He said his office was still communicating with his Malaysian counterpart.
"We maintain communications with Malaysia because the case is related to the nation's (Indonesia's) dignity and self-esteem," he added.
But Ishak Mohamed, immigration director for Malaysia's northern Perak state, said investigations had shown that at least 120 of the 232 asylum seekers were not involved with GAM.
"They will be sent back (to Aceh) once all their travel documents are ready," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
Ishak said, the 120 asylum seekers had agreed to return home and their relatives were prepared to pay for their travel.
Col. Ditya Sudarsono, spokesman for the martial law authorities in the war-torn province of Aceh, questioned the motives of the asylum seekers. He called their actions a "strange" move.
"The situation in Aceh is already safe. Why do they need to seek asylum?" he queried.
All 232 Achenese people are currently being held in the Lakap detention center in Perak.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted by dpa as saying his government would not grant them political asylum.
Officials from the UNHCR, and rights groups have appealed to the government to grant the asylum seekers temporary stay, in order that they can complete an application for refugee status with the international body.
Abdullah said it was government policy to send back illegal immigrants, but added that the request from UNHCR would be taken into consideration.