A lawyer who fears for the fate of his client - an Acehnese refugee- said that refugees who fled their country in fear for their life must not be subjected to the Immigration Act.

Human rights lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad said the Malaysian immigration laws defines an immigrant as someone who leaves their country to make a better living elsewhere, and this definition certainly does not depict a refugee.

"An immigrant has a choice to stay in their homeland or move to resettle in another country to improve their life. But a refugee does not have the luxury of making that choice. If they do not leave their country, they will face persecution, torture and possibly death," he told malaysiakini.

Damaging action

Questioning the practice of immigration authorities to detain and subsequently deport refugees, Amer said it is very damaging for the authorities to adopt such stern policies on the war victims like his client, Ahmad Adnan Abdul Kadir, when they should not even be subjected to the law.

Ahmad Adnan, 29 was arrested in April for illegal entry and was sentenced to 10 months' jail and two strokes of the rotan after pleading guilty to the offence..

However, the Shah Alam High Court on Monday set aside his conviction and jail sentence after finding that there was a miscarriage of justice.

When the case was re-mentioned at the Ampang magistrate's court on Thursday, the prosecution withdrew the charge against Ahmad who was subsequently discharged.

He was then sent to the Semenyih camp as the government does not recognise his refugee status that he is still considered an illegal immigrant.

Amer also told malaysiakini that even if the government insist that the Immigration Act is applicable to refugees, section 55 of the said act provides the home minister the discretion to exempt them (the refugees) from being subjected to the law.

"I am sure in cases like this where sending them back is like sentencing them to death, it is very appropriate for the minister to use his discretion and allow the refugees to remain in the country while awaiting relocation to another country," he said.

Amer also expressed his fear for his client's fate as he was informed that the authorities have already issued a deportation order against Ahmad and the unconfirmed news on the murder of several Acehnese who were deported back to Indonesia from Malaysia, has made the situation even worst.

Unfounded fear

He said the government's fear of opening a floodgate to all immigrants if they recognise the Acehnese status as refugee, is also unfounded.

"The United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) takes great pains in investigating the applicant's background before issuing the refugee status to them," he said.

He said the current policy which is practised by the Malaysian authorities on Aceh refugees is a far cry from the country's vow to help war victims in Iraq.

"There seems to be a double standard here. While we are shouting to help the war victims of Iraq, we should not forget our neighbours who are facing the same predicaments, or maybe worst, than the people in Iraq," he said.

Meanwhile, a senior immigration officer from the Semenyih camp Abdul Aziz Makmur told malaysiakini that they cannot release Ahmad Adnan because the Acehnese did not have proper documents.

"The law does not recognise their refugee status. The status does not exempt them from the act which clearly states that those without legal documents must be deported. There is little we can do about this, we have to follow the policy," he said.

He already informed Amer and a UNHCR representative to write to them requesting for the deferment of Ahmad's deportation until the arrangement to resettle him in a third country is completed.

"Once we get the letter we will try our best to cooperate. But there is also a slight problem here. They have been an increase on the number of refugees in the camp who are still awaiting resettlement in a third country. It is getting cramped here," he said.

He said if this situation is not checked, the Semenyih camp will turn into a UNHCR camp.

Long wait

"We have already relayed the problem to the UN and they have given an assurance that they will speed up the process but I don't see anything happening yet," he added.

Asked if there had been any refugees who were deported back, he said there had been a few cases where the detainees themselves felt restless as they felt that they had waited too long for the resettlement process.

In a related development a non partisan coalition called Solidarity For Aceh (SFA) urged Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to initiate a peace talk between the Freedom For Aceh movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government.

Lauding Abdullah's move to start peace talks between Manila and the MILF separatist movement, SFA said Abdullah should make a similar effort in recognising the ongoing military conflict in Aceh.

As Aceh's closest neighbour, it will be shameful if Malaysia do not act for peace in Aceh, it said in a press statement.