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.