The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will seek clarification as to why the police sealed all entry points to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) last week, prior to the mass arrest of undocumented migrants from Aceh. The area was then placed under surveillance for the whole week.

Human rights commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan also said an explanation would be sought as to why documented persons have been detained at the Langkap centre in Perak, when its officials have admitted that those carrying UNHCR documents would not be held.

He said this at the Suhakam office in Kuala Lumpur this evening, after receiving a memorandum from citizens' group Solidarity for Aceh and human rights group Suaram on the plight of Acehnese arrivals in Malaysia.

"We asked Bukit Aman (about the police operations) recently, but understand that the question will have to be posed to higher up authorities, as it is a sensitive political issue. We will continue to seek clarification," Hamdan told reporters.

On Tuesday, 239 of primarily Acehnese and some Burmese nationals were arrested at police roadblocks surrounding the UNHCR office. All of them are believed to have entered Malaysia illegally to avoid conflict or prosecution at home.

Women and children were also held during the operations. One woman gave birth while in detention.

'Safety paramount'

At today's meeting, the two NGOs called on Suhakam to secure the safety of the asylum-seekers on humanitarian grounds and in compliance with international standards accorded to war refugees.

Spokesperson for the group Eric Paulsen said their chief concern is what happens after their forced repatriation.

"Certainly, this is not the first time they are being ejected. The lucky ones get to blend in with the crowd once they reach Indonesia, but countless reports have said that many Acehnese are singled out on the ship and detained upon their arrival in Indonesia. We do not know what happens to them after that," he said.

"Recently, newspapers reported that the Indonesian government wants the identities of these Acehnese disclosed so that they can be brought in to be investigated....this makes it unsafe for Malaysia to deport them."

The memorandum points out that Acehnese are seeking asylum from the conflict between Indonesia and the armed separatists Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

They are highly likely to face persecution in the form of arbitrary arrest, detention without trial, torture or execution, whether returned to Aceh or to other areas of Indonesia.

"Several organisations are in the process of verifying reports that Acehnese who have been deported to ports in Indonesia have disappeared or been found dead," the memorandum said.

Deportation under such circumstances will only add to the humanitarian toll and thus intensify the outflow of refugees."

Humanitarian toll

The memorandum said the arrest of the Acehnese while they were in the process of applying for refugee status was "unacceptable from all perspectives".

The heavy police presence could further be seen as "interference" with the work of the UNHCR as the principal international body concerned with refugees.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar today took a hardline stance against Acehnese arrivals, declaring that UNHCR "is not right to register (them) as potential refugees as they are not refugees".

Meanwhile, Indonesia's national human rights body will be recommending that UN investigators probe human rights violations in Aceh due to continuing breaches in humanitarian law under the Geneva Convention.

In mid-May, the Indonesian government mounted an all-out military offensive to crush the long-running separatist movement in Aceh, after a peace initiative broke down.