More asylum seekers turned up at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Kuala Lumpur today to secure papers before the amnesty period for illegal immigrants ends this Thursday.

Yesterday, 100 asylum seekers were registered with UNHCR. The majority are refugees from Burma and Aceh.

UNHCR Protection Officer Shinji Kubo said the registration proceeded smoothly although not all persons were attended to because of time limitation yesterday.

"We registered 100 persons. Some [could not be] attended to and they were advised to return the following morning," said Kubo.

Malaysia has offered amnesty to illegal immigrants to leave the country by July 31, failing which they could face stiff penalties that include mandatory whipping, a fine or jail term under new provisions in the Immigration Act.

Asylum seekers who turned up at the agency are issued letters stating their registered name, age and country of origin. The letters do not indicate the individual's asylum claims until their cases are assessed in a later interview.

Kubo said the UNHCR is planning to bring in more staff from their regional office in Jakarta to help process the applications.

Interview dates

Burmese social worker Ghiyathudeen said the interviews have been scheduled for the next two months.

"Some Acehnese were given interview dates in August and most of the Rohingyas were given dates in September," said Ghiyathudeen in a telephone interview today.

Another Burmese social worker, Victor Sang, said a system has been set up at the UNHCR to ease the registration of hundreds more who have approached the agency's office today.

"They asked everyone to queue up and take a number so that it is more orderly," said Sang.

Some 200 Burmese and Acehnese asylum seekers turned up at the UNHCR compound yesterday. They were joined by more than 100 this morning.

The Rohingyas are a predominantly Muslim ethnic community who fled Burma alleging persecution by the military government. An estimated 10,000 Rohingyas are currently living in Malaysia, and many have been here for at least 10 years.

About 10,000 Acehnese are also said to be living in refugee-like circumstances in Malaysia.

Most have entered Malaysia illegally and claim to be fleeing from torture and ill-treatment by the Indonesian military.