A local citizens group today urged Suhakam to discuss with the government the issue of providing temporary protection to undocumented Acehnese living in Malaysia, and to halt all forced deportations until conflict in the Indonesian province is resolved.

According to Solidarity for Aceh representative Yin Shao Loong, it is urgent for Suhakam to recommend to the government the suspension of all further repatriation of Acehnese, "in light of the ongoing civilian death, incommunicado detention, torture, 'disappearances' and extra-judicial killings that is being reported [in Aceh]."

Present to receive the memorandum was commissioner Zainah Anwar, who responded that the temporary suspension of deportation, given the exceptional situation of conflict in Aceh, seemed like a reasonable request.

She said the memorandum will be studied by Suhakam, taking into consideration the same principles and values taken on the issue of the Rohingya asylum seekers.

Citing from the memorandum, Yin also expressed concern over the safety and welfare of Acehnese in Malaysia, particularly since the Home Ministry has the power to detain and deport them immediately.

Principles of basic humanity

Yin said temporary respite from prosecution under the 1963 Immigration Act and assistance to those waiting to lodge applications with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), should be provided.

"We appeal to Suhakam to hold dialogues with the Home Ministry, in particular with the police and immigration department to ensure that the rights and principles of basic humanity are observed when dealing with these groups," he said.

According to Lilliane Fan, another Solidarity representative, the lack of information access, not only for international groups but also local organisation like Indonesian human rights body Komnas HAM, and problems of credibility in official reports, have meant that any forced deportation of Acehnese now would jeopardise the safety of these individuals.

The Solidarity, which was represented by 11 other individuals at Suhakam's office today, said the greatest fear of asylum seekers from Aceh is being forced by authorities to return to the conflict province.

The group also said that the police should respect the status of individuals who are already registered with the UNHCR - those in possession of official papers and awaiting settlement in a third country - and liaise with the international body in cases of arrest.

"We hope that all individuals who are already registered and seeking registration with the UNHCR, but detained as illegal immigrants by local police, be released soon."

"We also urge Suhakam to recommend that the Malaysian government allow those Acehnese who have registered with UNHCR to legitimately work in Malaysia while their application is being processed.

Conditions in detention camp

In addition, the group requested that Suhakam look into conditions at the illegal immigrant detention camps, which it believes may also be detaining women and children.

UNHCR recently announced that the number of asylum applications from Aceh have doubled since Jakarta declared martial law in the province and declared an all-out war to wipe out the separatists Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement) on May 19.

Malaysia currently classifies Acehnese fleeing conflict as 'illegal immigrants' rather than 'refugees', on the basis that it has not ratified the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. This is despite that the treaty has long been recognised by other states as customary international law.

Speaking to reporters later, Zainah ( photo ) said she hopes to have a meeting with the government as soon as possible on this issue, seeing that Suhakam has had two previous meetings with the Home Ministry and other government agencies on the issue of Rohingya asylum seekers.