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.