The Malaysian chapter of international human rights organisation Amnesty International today urged the government to treat refugees with respect and to be more humane.

In a statement to mark the world refugee day today, AI Malaysia (AIM) said it was timely for the government to ratify the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and stop all ill-treatment of refugees by the police and immigration officials.

The movement also said the government must uphold the universally accepted practices of not deporting refugees to their own countries where they face possible persecution.

"AIM would like to remind the Malaysian government that refugees are victims of war, civil upheaval and grave human rights abuses in their own countries."

Fueling misconceptions

Technically, refugees are asylum seekers who have been recognised and accepted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as having "well-founded" fear of persecution if they are returned to their country of origin.

As the Malaysian government is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, it is not bound to accept temporary settlement of recognised refugees in the country. However, the government has tolerated their residence in Malaysia pending resettlement arrangements.

AIM also expressed its worries over the increasing tendency for the government and the public to view refugees and asylum seekers as scroungers, free-loaders or simply migrants who circumvent normal immigration procedures.

"Irresponsible politicians and the media, often fuel these misconceptions, warning of 'waves' and 'floods' of refugees, who are accused of causing unemployment for the local population, crime, terrorism and other forms of social ills."

The movement said that in the recent past, especially in the wake of the heightened military conflict in Aceh, this misconception has intensified.

New laws

This resulted in the government placing its borders on high alert in expectation of an influx of refugees from the troubled areas and the intensified crackdown of immigrants, especially those from Aceh, said the movement.

On Thursday, malaysiakini reported that the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur was coping with between 150 to 200 asylum applications - double than usual - from people claiming to have fled from Aceh.

In the past Malaysia, begrudgingly, has been a waiting point for many asylum seekers from neighbouring countries torn by civil disturbance until they are resettled by the UNHCR in a third country. This includes Kampuchean and Vietnamese in the early 80s to Burmese and Indonesians in recent times.

To overcome social and criminal problems arising from these immigrants, the government introduced strict new laws last August which allowed whipping and jailing of illegal immigrants. This also resulted in an increase of asylum seekers at UNHCR.

Building the future

According to the US Committee for Refugees there are an estimated 57,500 refugees and asylum seekers currently living in Malaysia, out of which more than half are youths, children and women.

The theme for this year's world refugee day - the third in the series - is "Refugee Youth: Building the Future".

The date to celebrate this day - June 20 - was adopted by the UN general assembly on Dec 4, 2000. The date coincided with the already existing Africa Refugee Day.

The world refugee day enhances the collective efforts of the UNHCR, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other concerned groups to bring attention to the situation of refugees.