Government enforcement agencies and refugee agencies are making preparations to handle a possible influx of refugees fleeing the renewed armed conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

Although details remain sketchy, it is apparent that Malaysia can expect to host a significant number of Acehnese, as it o­nce did with Vietnamese refugees from the mid-1970s to the mid- 1990s.

On Monday, the Indonesian military launched a large-scale offensive against Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel positions following the failure of peace talks between the two sides in Japan.

This has raised concerns within the international community that a large-scale humanitarian crisis could arise as a result of the military operations.