Malaysia to deport Acehnese despite UNHCR's objections

Agencies, Jakarta

Malaysia will deport some 250 Acehnese who were arrested as they were trying to seek asylum at the United Nations refugee agency in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, despite protests from the UN body.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on Wednesday Malaysia's stand on the asylum seekers from the war-torn Indonesian province of Aceh, would be no different to that of other illegal immigrants.

"If foreigners are found without valid entry permits, they will be sent back. This is the law of the country," he was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail newspaper.

An immigration officer told AFP that the Indonesian migrants had been transported from Kuala Lumpur to the northern Perak state where they were being held in the Langkap detention camp.

"They are all in a good condition. We are taking down their details. And they will be deported," the immigration officer said on Wednesday.

Perak is across the narrow Malacca Strait from Aceh.

The Indonesian government said that the issue was very sensitive because many Acehnese people, who have been living in Malaysia illegally for years, used the ongoing military operation in the province as a reason to ask for asylum.

"We have to verify if they were arrested because they are illegal migrants," Indonesian Embassy information section chief Budhi Rahardjo told The Jakarta Post in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

"The number of asylum seekers is only 232 and not all of them are Acehnese, some are people from Vietnam and Cambodia."

He added that since Malaysia issued a stern immigration regulation last year, raids against illegal migrants have been conducted regularly and many Indonesians have been deported.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said there had been many Acehnese who asked for asylum just to legalize their long-term presence in Malaysia.

"The ongoing military operation gives them an excuse to do so," Marty told the Post.

The arrest drew immediate criticism from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We are alarmed by this unprecedented action," it said in a statement.

The UNHCR urged Malaysia to free the detainees and issue them temporary protection letters.

"I think there is some miscommunication. Refugees are not illegal immigrants under international law," Evan Ruth, head of the UNHCR refugee eligibility unit, told AFP on Wednesday.

Ruth said the UNHCR would send an officer to Langkap detention camp in a bid to secure the release of the Acehnese, who include men, women and children.

Malaysia is bound by an internationally accepted obligation not to deport immigrants to conflict regions even though it is not a signatory to the UN convention on refugees, he said.

Ruth said the UNHCR had to stop its operations on Wednesday because the continued presence of police outside their office "scared away" asylum seekers.