RI migrants still in U.S. embassy

RI migrants still in U.S. embassy

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): More than 30 Indonesian immigrants forced their way into foreign embassies in Malaysia's capital yesterday in a desperate effort to avoid deportation, but most were quickly turned over to police and locked up.

At least 33 Indonesians burst into the Bruneian, French, Swiss and U.S. compounds, some of them scrambling over high walls, others dashing through gates, in a synchronized move at about 7.30 a.m. (6.30 a.m. Jakarta time), diplomats said.

Police quickly removed the immigrants from the French and Swiss embassies and Brunei's office in Kuala Lumpur's leafy diplomatic enclave after diplomats called in authorities. The immigrants were locked up in a nearby police station, police said.

"They are illegal immigrants," a senior Foreign Ministry official told Reuters. "Now they have committed another crime, unauthorized entry into the embassies."

But eight Indonesians were still inside the U.S. embassy compound 11 hours after they had scaled a wall to get inside.

The U.S. embassy made arrangements to put the immigrants up for the night, and brought in a portable toilet.

"It's very likely that nothing will be done today," a U.S. official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. "It looks like they will be staying the night."

The immigrants were all from restive Aceh province in the north of Sumatra island and feared persecution if repatriated, an Acehnese leader told Reuters. The Indonesian government has denied the Acehnese allegations.

The U.S. embassy was in touch with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) office in Kuala Lumpur to determine if the immigrants could be transferred there or if the agency would assess whether they deserved political asylum.

Last week, 14 Acehnese drove a truck through the gate of the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur to seek asylum. The Acehnese say they will be persecuted if sent back to Aceh, where a separatist revolt peaked in the early 1990s.

The U.S. embassy was also in contact with Washington to decide whether to expel the immigrants, officials said.

"We appreciate that the U.S. embassy has not expelled them," said the Acehnese leader, who asked not to be identified. "We are hopeful the U.S. will help us."

The dramatic entry into the foreign missions came amid a Malaysian campaign to repatriate tens of thousands of Indonesians which has provoked expressions of concern from the United Nations and human rights groups.