U.S. envoy urges Malaysia to involve UN on migrants
U.S. envoy urges Malaysia to involve UN on migrants
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): The United States yesterday urged Malaysia to allow the UN refugee agency to assess immigrants' claims for political asylum as eight Indonesians fearing deportation remained inside the U.S. embassy.
U.S. ambassador to Malaysia John Malott met Foreign Ministry officials the day after the Indonesians climbed over the embassy wall to seek diplomatic protection.
Malott asked Malaysia to consider allowing representatives from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) agency to assess whether some immigrants facing repatriation deserved political asylum, a U.S. embassy official said.
"He (Malott) urged Malaysia to adhere to accepted practice," the official told Reuters.
"The UNHCR is in town. The best way to resolve individual questions is to follow that mechanism."
Malaysia has refused to allow the UNHCR to visit detention camps to interview immigrants who say they would be persecuted if sent home.
The eight Indonesians in the U.S. embassy were among more than 30 who burst into foreign compounds in Kuala Lumpur on Friday morning seeking diplomatic protection.
The French, Swiss and Bruneian missions called in Malaysian police to arrest the immigrants. The French Foreign Ministry said the Indonesians were economic, not political, migrants who did not merit asylum.
But the eight in the U.S. embassy said they were from Aceh province in the north of Indonesia's Sumatra island and would face mistreatment if sent home to the region where a separatist revolt flared in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
U.S. officials said they did not expect an end to the diplomatic standoff during the weekend.
Malaysia has steadfastly refused to grant asylum status to Acehnese although in recent years it has given residency papers to some.
Malaysian officials said the Indonesians who stormed into the foreign missions on Friday were among the tens of thousands of immigrants who must be deported because Malaysia's economy is in a slowdown and no longer needs as many foreign workers.
The U.S. embassy was in contact with the UNHCR yesterday to explore the possibility of involving the agency in efforts to resolve the diplomatic standoff, diplomats said.
The UNHCR has had 14 Acehnese seeking asylum in its compound in Kuala Lumpur since they burst through its gate in a lorry almost two weeks ago.
"They (UNHCR) are attentive to our concerns and interested in our situation over here," a U.S. official said, denying reports that the UN agency wanted to wash its hands of the affair. Thousands of people have fled Indonesia, in the grip of its worst economic downturn in decades.
Malaysia is trying to repatriate tens of thousands of Indonesians, provoking concern from human rights groups who say some Acehnese face mistreatment if sent back to their province, where a separatist revolt peaked in the early 1990s.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia, facing it own slowdown, would continue deporting thousands of immigrants.
"There's no change in our policy," Mahathir said late on Friday.