The detention of Acehnese refugees by the police outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Kuala Lumpur in recent weeks has presented a moral dilemma to Malaysians.

Should these refugees be granted political asylum? Would it be worthwhile for Malaysia to extend protection to the Acehnese fleeing their war-torn homeland on humanitarian grounds?

Given the consultative consensus and non-interference policy of Asean, how should Malaysia navigate the situation so that it would not touch the raw nerve of the Indonesian authorities?

Finally, there is also the deep anxiety among the common folks that the rise in the number of Acehnese could plunge the already worsening public security in Malaysia into total disarray.

No obligations

To answer this series of questions, one first has to take a look at the Malaysian position from the aspect of international law.

Despite the oft-repeated stance as a guardian of world peace and its readiness to speak up for the oppressed and the exploited nations in the name of universal justice, it is ironic, through and through, that Malaysia is not yet a state party to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its Protocol, or to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Thus, Malaysia is not obliged to extend political asylum to incoming refugees; neither is there a legal framework within which asylum claims could be adjudicated.

What the Malaysian government has been doing is assess the claims made by undocumented immigrants through the UNHCR office and, once their refugee status is confirmed, these people will be transferred to a third country.

However, I am worried that the latest high-handedness of the Malaysian authorities vis a vis the Acehnese refugees may spell an end to this arrangement.

Be so as it may, Malaysians are not absolved of our moral responsibility, Malaysia's exemption from legal obligations notwithstanding.

In the past so many years, the government of Malaysia has been shuttling between the capital cities of the developing nations in an effort to forge a 'Third World Solidarity', while sparing no pains in denouncing the 'hegemonic behaviour' of the West.

In demonising the West indiscriminately, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad appears to be obsessed with the moral certitude that Malaysia truly stands with the developing world.

But it is already a common knowledge that many workers from the Asean countries now work under the harshest conditions with meagre pay in this peace-loving nation, and the problem of stranded labourers from Vietnam and China cheated into Malaysia by illegal syndicates remains unabated.

I doubt this would have taken place without the connivance of the authorities concerned.

Third World oppression

Weeks before the American invasion of Iraq, much money and manpower had gone into the nationwide 'Malaysians for Peace' campaign, mostly funded and supported by none other than businesspeople, media professionals, politicians and scholars closely linked to the Mahathir administration.

The officially sanctioned anti-war movement successfully created an anti-war sentiment that was so overwhelming that people who spoke in favour of the bellicose Bush government would find themselves a public enemy.

In light of the moral high-ground assumed by Malaysia, one must therefore confront the government as to why hundreds of undocumented immigrants fleeing the oppressive regimes in Burma and Indonesia for safety have been turned away, many having been forcibly deported back to their homelands despite the possible consequences of severe punishment or even death?

Are they not the Third World people whom the Malaysian government so proudly claims to protect? Or is it that only the First World is guilty of the heinous crime of colonialism and exploitation, while the ruthless oppression of the Third World governments against their own people is a totally different matter? Why have those voices of peace gone silent?

The claim by the prime minister and his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that Malaysia is averse to meddling in the internal affairs of a foreign country is incongruous at best.

Sabah has long been plagued by the problem of undocumented people from southern Philippines. It is seen as a conscious effort to boost the Muslim population there when it was politically convenient for Umno to do so, nearly jeopardising diplomatic ties with Manila.

As the Acehnese are now running for their lives, our government has suddenly realised there is this 'Asean Consensus' to adhere to.

Crime-rate excuse

The attribution of the root cause of the rising crime rates solely to the presence of migrant workers in Malaysia is also misplaced.

The rampant corruption within the civil service has enabled the ringleaders of human trafficking to ferry economic immigrants into Malaysia in loads without much barrier, and the many high-profile criminal cases in recent years point to the incapability of the our police forces and their questionable integrity.

The situation has been compounded by the abrupt and the frequent changes to laws and regulations pertaining to immigration and foreign labour.

Since the authorities are not unblemished in this respect, why must the guest workers and refugees, the majority of whom are in fact law-abiding and industrious, constantly be made to bear the blame for the inability of our own authorities in safeguarding public security?

Malaysia is a country made up of immigrants and sojourners, many of our ancestors came to this beautiful and blessed land in search of the greener pasture, and decided to put down their roots here.

Ours is also a deeply religious society, with the majority of the people being followers of one religion or another. This unique history and character should therefore teach us to treat the newcomers with greater tolerance and understanding.

It seems that we should instead ponder hard why there is this public indifference to the inhumane treatments of the refugees by the Malaysian authorities. The attitude of some Malaysians towards these people is even xenophobic.

As for the government, its fight for justice and equality on behalf of the developing world will only win more credibility, approval and respect from the international community if its actions are in keeping with what it preaches globally.

The first step towards this will be for the Barisan Nasional government to sign and rectify the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its Protocol and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Then we can begin to put in place a legal mechanism through which the issue of refugees and undocumented people can be handled in a systematic and humane way.

JOSH HONG is trained in international politics. While distraught by all the ongoing global conflicts, he nevertheless considers reconciling the many paradoxes and differences in human life to be a cause worthy of lifelong pursuit.