Strict new laws allowing for the whipping and jailing of illegal immigrants have resulted in a sudden surge of asylum applications at the Kuala Lumpur office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

UNHCR protection officer Shinji Kubo said the agency has receiving between 100 to 150 applications daily for the past three months from asylum seekers living undocumented in Malaysia.

"Since Aug 1, there has been a surge of asylum seekers. These people were given temporary letters as soon as they registered with us. The letters may have been useful so the (asylum seekers) tell others about it. So more people came to our office," he explained.

Undetermined reasons

The government tightened the immigration laws last August to stem the influx of foreigners entering the country illegally.

According to Kubo, the majority of the applications came from Acehnese and Burmese asylum seekers.

"It is about 50 percent each. But more and more Burmese people coming to us are not Rohingyas. Now, we have significant numbers of Burmese Muslims in general. Some applicants are from other ethnic (and religious) minority groups but these are not significant," he noted.

Asked if the applicants have all claimed asylum from state persecution in their home countries, Kubo declined to comment saying o­nly that their reasons were not fully determined as a large number of the applications have not been processed.

"Presently, we have about 2,500 applications waiting for assessment and we can o­nly go through about 150 per month," he said, adding that the recognition rate for the asylum seekers now stood at around 50 percent of all applicants.

"We took up about 30 more people to work with us since late last year to respond to the increase in applications. Resettlement activities have also increased."

Appeal to Malaysia

The protection officer said the UNHCR head office in Geneva is considering two options to address the increase in asylum seeker applications in Malaysia - the first is for general recognition of the groups claiming persecution by their own governments and the second, for the Malaysian government to allow these people to live temporarily in the country.

"The general recognition option (carries) a big question mark as it could create a pull factor for thousands more to come to the UNHCR. However, with no drastic change in the situation (in Aceh and Burma respectively), this is not a realistic goal," he said.

Kubo said the refugee agency has also appealed to the Malaysian government to take additional measures to stop genuine asylum seekers from being arrested.

"The arrests have continued o­n a small scale. Now, there are between 5 to 10 persons in detention or even in prisons," he added.

Police arrests

Meanwhile, a representative from the Burmese Chin refugee community in Malaysia said the asylum seekers continue to live in difficult circumstances due to their undocumented status.

"Out of 1,000 asylum applicants, o­nly 130 have been recognised as refugees under UNHCR's mandate. Some are waiting for interviews with the UNHCR while the rest are rejected. In the meantime, Malaysian police and immigration officers (continue) to arrest asylum seekers as illegal immigrants," said Victor Sang, the coordinator for the Kuala Lumpur Chin Refugee Committee.

"In order to avoid detection by the authorities, many Chin asylum seekers are staying in makeshift huts inside thick jungles in Putrajaya (where many of them worked o­n construction projects). Since the police know that many Chins stay in the jungles, they often (arrest) them there and demand money from them," he said.

Although Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, the country is still home to significant numbers of asylum seekers from neighbouring countries.

Religious persecution

About 20,000 Burmese asylum seekers - mainly from the Rohingya and Chin minority groups - are estimated to live in Malaysia. Most alleged that they face religious and ethnic persecution by the Burmese military in their home provinces.

Malaysia is also home to a large Acehnese population claiming to have fled their homes in northern Sumatra from torture and ill-treatment by the Indonesian military and Filipino immigrants from conflict areas in southern Philippines.

However, despite the risks of being arrested by Malaysian authorities, more asylum seekers are expected to seek refuge in Malaysia as fresh conflict break out both in Aceh and southern Philippines between government forces and secessionist groups.