A group of Burmese asylum seekers who invaded the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) compound in Kuala Lumpur last Friday may be charged with attempted encroachment, said a Burmese activist.

Ghiyathudeen, an activist from the Rohingya Heritage Foundation, said the 28 illegal immigrants from the Rohingya Muslim community who invaded and camped out in the UNHCR grounds are still being detained at the Brickfields police station.

The 28 illegals — 16 adults and 12 children — may be charged with causing damage to UN property, or deported as intended originally, said Ghiyathudeen over a telephone interview.

Ghiyathudeen said he received the information from the detainees who telephoned him after they arrived at the Brickfields police station on Saturday afternoon.

He added that no visitors have been allowed to see those under detention.

Brickfields police chief Khoo Hong San could not be reached for comment.

Last Saturday, Kuala Lumpur immigration department deputy director Ahmad Ismail was quoted in a Bernama report as saying that the 28 would be held at the Semenyih detention camp in Selangor pending investigations.

'Alarming figures'

Meanwhile, human rights group Suaram urged the government to continue issuing temporary passes to the Rohingya immigrants while lasting, peaceful solutions are sought to their plight.

Suaram executive director Cynthia Gabriel said today in a press statement that the practice of pushing illegal Rohingyas back to the Thai border should no longer be tolerated as the Burmese military junta continue an oppressive rule over the country.

"Arresting and keeping them in detention centres and worse, checking with the military junta on their identities, is illogical and dangerous and will further open avenues for persecution," said Gabriel.

According to Gabriel, since the Malaysian government had actively advocated for constructive engagement with Burma, it must also extend support to protect the Burmese people until true democracy is restored in the country.

She added that Suaram had frequently received complaints from Rohingya immigrants over the difficulties they faced when trying to access the UNHCR in order to apply for asylum in third countries.

"It is alarming that the figures released by the UNHCR of approved applications for political asylum amounts to only five percent," said Gabriel.

She added that the low figure and the fact that the refugee agency has been party to the refoulement failed to reflect the agency's mandate to find lasting solutions towards the protection of refugees.

Denied citizenship

Amnesty International in Malaysia also issued a press statement today calling for the UNHCR to review the cases of the 28 asylum seekers on the principle of non-refoulement and to take pro-active measures to ensure their safety while in custody.

(Non-refoulement refers to the obligation of states not to return a refugee to a country where his or her life or freedom would be threatened. The principle, which is part of the 1951 Refugee Convention, is also said to be customary international law requiring the compliance of all states. However, the Malaysian government is not a signatory to the refugee convention.)

AI Malaysia chairperson Joseph Paul said, "We urge the Malaysian government not to deport the Rohingyas who will most certainly face persecution if they are repatriated."

UNHCR head liaison officer Lowell Martin could not be reached for comment.

The Rohingya Muslims are an ethnic community from the Arakan state in west Burma who have been denied citizenship by the Burmese government.

In 1992, Rohingya refugees registered with the UNHCR were issued letters acknowledging their status as refugees from Arakan. However, the letters were cancelled the following year for unknown reasons, leaving those living illegally in Malaysia with no official status.