"Doing this," said Komander, indicating to his table of six sipping teh tarik at an open warung in Kuala Lumpur's Chow Kit, "is a privilege where we come from."

Together with his friends, Ayah and Cikgu, they are part of the growing community of Indonesian migrants who have eked a living in Malaysia for more than half their lives. But to place more accurately the context of Komander's conversation with his friends, all are migrants from the conflict-ridden province of Aceh.

The civil conflict, the Acehnese claim, has been going on - and off - since the days of the Dutch, and that eventual Javanese control over the federated nation changed little for the war-hardened province.

Komander said he left in 1980 to escape the violence plaguing the civilian community.

"We are grateful that Malaysia was able to give us protection at a time where we had not much choice left," he said.

All-out war

Cikgu, Ayah and Komander (all pseudonyms) were lucky to have gotten out early. Many recent transmigration of Acehnese into Malaysia - especially since May following Jakarta's all-out war declaration against separatists elements in the province - have not been welcomed by our government.

Detention and deportation greet those caught without proper papers - even United Nations refugee recognition have no teeth.

The conditions that compel their illegal trespass may be drastically different from the reasons that draw in economic migrants from other parts of Indonesia, but it does not stop Malaysia from arresting refugees - thereby going against international customary law in assertion of its position as non-signatory to the UN refugees' convention.

It is as if Malaysia is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea - a more compassionate stance, the government fears, will set new precedents for illegal migrants into the country. On the other hand, according proper refugee recognition to the Acehnese will only step on Jakarta's toes as it signifies interference with its territorial integrity.

As a result, thousands of migrants go undocumented because the government has refused to acknowledge their large presence here. Some estimate that there are as high as 10,000 Aceh migrants living in the country, with only one-tenth of them possessing legal documentation.

And despite the inhospitable climate that greet them once they get here, many continue to take the risk of getting here, some returning more than once.

Protect daughter's innocence

Two years ago, Ayah made the decision to send for his eldest daughter, because "at 16, we needed to protect her innocence; anything could happen to a woman over there," he said.

Yet, Ayah's daughter is a unique case. The unsafe conditions for women in the province doesn't change the fact that almost all who migrate out of Aceh are male; almost all come without their wives and children.

The men say that Acehnese tradition dictates women fall back to raise the children, and men strike out to look for better conditions elsewhere.

The systems works because of the surprising reality that these men - holding the red Malaysian IC or not - will ultimately want to return to Aceh someday.

"It is not a matter of how good things are here. Even if we were somewhere else, a first world country with all the infrastructures, we would still return home," said Cikgu, despite having lived 18 out of his 35 years in Malaysia.

"You must keep in mind that we left our lands under great duress. The knowledge that our colonisers - the Indonesian government - continues to push out our people, makes us more determined to defend our independence.

"For that, we will always go back."

Even Komander, married and settled with a Thai wife and a 11-year-old son with Malaysian citizenship, is certain that he wants to set up life in Aceh in the future.

"I may have a restaurant business, permanent residency, and my son is Malaysian - but I still hold onto my roots, I do not want to lose my right to go back and reclaim my people's land."

Life has been good

However, they conceded that life in Malaysia has been more than good despite that the only work opportunities this nation offered was the low wages of the construction industry.

They were part of generation who migrated in waves from all over Indonesia during the boom years of the late 1970s.

At that time, Malaysia opened its arms wide to cheap, illegal labour, seeing that the burgeoning middle- and upper-class benefitted much from keeping building costs low.

"Historically, our people only know how to work the land. Now we can take our skills back with us - whether construction skills, business skills, whatever it is, the opportunities of a better life is possible if we return," said Komander.

"It was a convenient opportunity - we all came to save our lives, but were also given a chance to make some money and send it home," said Ayah.

In the meantime, they will continue their daily stopovers in Chow Kit to trade in the latest news on the community - how many were arrested, which ones have been taken into detention, and who managed obtain resettlement in which third country.

Perhaps not the usual discussion that Malaysians are used to.