Police detain Burmese family, UNHCR mum on 18 asylum seekers

comments     Yap Mun Ching     Published     Updated

The police detained a Burmese family, including four children outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday while the fate of 18 others who are in the agency's compound seeking asylum remains uncertain.

When met this morning, Mohd Sabir, 31, said the six were arrested while they were pleading to enter into the refugee agency's compound.

"The man and his wife were handcuffed. The woman did not want to go into the car but the policemen pushed her in.

"The children were crying. It was so sad that I cried too," said Sabir ( second from left ) who is among the group of Burmese Rohingyas seeking refuge in the UNHCR compound since Monday.

Another Rohingya asylum seeker, Ibrahimin Hafiz Ahmad, 31, ( second from right ) said a man was almost arrested by the police this morning when he arrived at the UNHCR for a pre-arranged appointment.

"A UNHCR official came out and spoke with the police for some time. The man was able to leave," he said.

No medicine

On Monday, six men, a woman and two children, forced their way into the UNHCR compound and requested for asylum or resettlement in a third country.

The next day, another group of nine men entered through a hole in the perimeter fencing of the agency's compound.

When met today, the two groups said they were being housed in separate areas within the agency's grounds.

It is learnt that the first group of Rohingyas were placed in a wooden house within the UNHCR's grounds while the second group were housed in a smaller hut surrounded by a 10m by 5m perimeter fencing.

"There are no mats or sheets. We sleep on the floor all in one room," said Din Mohamad, a 34-year-old Rohingya who was among the first group that entered the refugee agency.

"There is enough food but not enough medicine. The woman with us is pregnant and she is not well," he added.

Status unknown

Asked about the progress of the UNHCR's assessments, Din said several persons had been interviewed but none have been informed of the status of their applications.

During malaysiakini 's visit this afternoon, a green zinc fence was being erected across a section leading to the wooden houses where the asylum seekers were placed in order to shield them from public view.

The Burmese Rohingyas are an ethnically distinct Muslim community originating from the northwestern state of Arakan. A majority of them claim to have fled their country because of ethnic and religious persecution by the military junta.

They have also been denied citizenship by their government.

The incident this week is the second attempt this year by Burmese Rohingya immigrants to gain asylum by entering the UNHCR compound.

In January, a group of 28 Rohingyas invaded the UNHCR grounds but upon failing to qualify as the agency's mandate refugees, they were handed over to the authorities and were subsequently deported to Thailand.

UNHCR Protection Officer Shinji Kubo could not be reached for comment.



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