Outcry at raid on Aceh refugees
Malaysian police launched a controversial dawn raid against hundreds of displaced Acehnese arriving at the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur to seek refugee status. The raid has drawn heavy criticism from the UN officials, rights groups and opposition politicians.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees expressed grave concern at the 'unprecedented police action' and urged the Malaysian government to release all those who had been detained. It also urged all parties to recognise the need to give asylum to Acehnese during the conflict in the province.
Human rights lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, who represents the Acehnese in court, said: 'Deporting the Acehnese amounts to passing a death sentence on them. The government must give them shelter as they await relocation to other countries.'
Police blocked all roads on Tuesday morning leading to the UNHCR office, stopped vehicles and arrested 232 of the refugees as illegal immigrants.
The UNHCR had set aside Tuesdays every week to check, confirm or reject refugee status of Acehnese since the Indonesian military action against Aceh separatists that started on May 19.
District police chief Zul Hasnan Najib Baharuddin said the Acehnese were being detained at a camp for illegal immigrants and would be deported to Indonesia.
Several Acehnese and policemen were killed in a riot in 1996 after Malaysian police tried to deport hundreds of Acehnese they had detained as illegal immigrants.
It is not clear whether the Acehnese will be charged with illegal entry. If so, they face stiff jail terms and whippings under new laws to discourage illegal workers.
The Acehnese make the five-day trip across the Straits of Malacca in slow wooden boats, then walk to the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur and apply for refugee status. About 2,000 have applied since the conflict escalated.
Opposition leaders described the action as shameful.
Malaysia refuses to ratify the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, mainly because it fears a flood of refugees from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
