Malaysia to deport Acehnese despite UNHCR's objections
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.