The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kuala Lumpur has started issuing temporary protection letters to individuals fleeing the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, similar to initiatives implemented during the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.

UNHCR representative Lowell Martin said today that the letters are basically "appeals" to Malaysian authorities not to deport these persons to places where their lives might be in danger and not to subject them to arbitrary arrest.