UNHCR sees a surge in applications from Acehnese

comments     Yap Mun Ching     Published     Updated

The intensifying conflict in Aceh has led to a surge in the number of asylum applications at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kuala Lumpur.

UNHCR protection officer Shinji Kubo said today the agency has been receiving between150 to 200 asylum applications daily from people claiming to have fled the war in the northern Sumatran province.

"We are trying to work out an internal mechanism to help us determine who are the civilian asylum seekers. We have to be very clear because our mandate allows us only to protect civilians and not combatants," he said.

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