Malaysia detains Myanmar refugee protesters

Mon March 7, 2005 5:10 PM GMT+05:30

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police detained about two dozen Myanmar refugees on Monday for protesting outside the office of the U.N. refugee agency to demand speedy resettlement, witnesses and officials said.

Women and children were among the protesters, from the Rohingya ethnic group, who held up posters reading, "We need immediate protection", and "We want speedy resettlement", before police bundled them away, witnesses said.

Rights groups and the UN refugee agency fear a drive by Malaysia to deport illegal migrants, which began this month, puts refugees and asylum-seekers at risk of being returned to countries where they may suffer detention or torture.

"They have been arrested because of what was considered an unlawful demonstration," Volker Turk, country representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said.
"Of course we protested on their behalf, but immigration authorities have taken them away to verify their status and have said they will release those who are found to be refugees."
Leaders among the Rohingyas, who came to Malaysia in the 1990s from Myanmar's northern state of Arakan, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The UNHCR says there are more than 10,000 Rohingya in Malaysia, making them the largest group of asylum seekers.

Myanmar disputes their origin and refuses to let them return.

Malaysia's biggest crackdown on illegal migrants since 2002 is aimed at about 200,000 to 400,000 people who stayed on beyond a four-month amnesty for illegal workers -- mostly Indonesians, Filipinos and south Asians -- to leave without punishment.
About 400,000 people took up the offer. Those who stayed risk fines, jail and a whipping for men younger than 50.

About 1,407 people have been detained since the crackdown began on March 1, immigration officials said, of a total of 12,973 whose papers were checked. They can be held for 14 days until officials decide whether to prosecute or deport them.

Malaysian ministers have made conflicting statements about how the country would treat migrants with UNHCR documents certifying them as refugees but Turk said the agency had been told genuine refugees or asylum seekers would not suffer.

The UNHCR has set up a 24-hour operations room to answer requests for document verification from officials involved in the crackdown, he added.

"We have had several dozen calls since March 1. Some people have been released, and about 22 are in detention, even though they have UNHCR documents," Turk said. "But we have asked authorities to release them."

About 35,000 people are registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia, Turk said. Most of the refugees are from Myanmar, ruled by a military junta, and Aceh in Indonesia, where a long-running separatist revolt has driven hundreds from their homes.

Last year, the government told the Rohingyas they would get temporary residence permits to help them find work since they could not return home, Turk said.

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