Police arrested 21 Burmese asylum seekers outside the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur this morning as the group were staging a pro-democracy protest.

The group, including a seven-year-old girl and her freelance journalist mother, were taken to the Cheras police station for further questioning.

A police spokesperson said the group were arrested for illegal assembly though it had not been decided yet whether they would be charged.

"It was a peaceful demonstration but it is against our law to hold public gatherings without a permit," local police chief Mohamad Noor told AFP .

Mohamad said police were investigating if the 21 people arrested had valid travel documents.

They group had gathered at the embassy to protest a national convention that begins in Rangoon today to discuss the formation of a new Burmese constitution.

The country's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy's (NLD), had earlier said that it would boycott the convention as the ruling military junta has refused to free its leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo from house arrest.

According to a statement distributed by the group - comprising activists from the Democratic Federation of Burma (DFB) and the NLD - the national convention today was a 'sham which ignored the wishes of the Burmese people.

"The national convention delegates were hand-picked by the military junta. Now they are going to draft the new constitution and thus become an officially self-imposed government. Our nation's future will be under the army's boots," the statement read.

The demonstration which lasted for an hour, was initially just watched by about 30 uniformed and non-uniformed police personnel.

But halfway through the assembly, police moved in and handcuffed two Burmese activists, Pho Htoo, 26 and Thuran Tun, 24. The other members of the group were rounded up half an hour later togther with their banners and placards.

UNHCR access

All the protestors arrested were male with the exception of Sein Mar, and her daughter Suu Win Hming.

A DFB leader, Thet Oo, denounced the arrest of the protestors. "We are just trying to highlight the issue of Burmese living in Malaysia. When we have a Malaysian , Razali Ismail, speaking for our cause why can't we even protest in front of our own embassy?" Thet said confirming that most of those arrested were asylum seekers.

The local office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which handles asylum seekers in Malaysia, hoped that the 21 would be released soon.

"For the UNHCR to intervene, we first have to verify who they are. If they registered with us then we will check with the authorities and ask for them to be released," said Shinji Kubo, the agency's officer here when contacted.

"If they are not released, then we would ask for access to them. We would try our best to have them released," Kubo added.

Police stepped up security at the Burmese embassy at Jalan Ru, off Jalan Ampang, following an incident last month when the double-storey wooden bungalow caught fire and one of its diplomats attacked.

Three Burmese refugees have been charged in connection with the episode.

Burma's military junta has received scathing criticisms for its human rights record following a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists and the placing of popular opposition leader Suu Kyi under house arrest.