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.

"This is in line with UNHCR practice to provide temporary protection to persons facing conflict in their home countries," he told malaysiakini at his office this morning.

"It has been adopted in other instances such as during the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as in Kosovo."

UNHCR protection officer Senai Terrefe, who was also present, said the approval process for the protection letters is "fairly rapid" and applicants should be issued with the document in a matter of days after their registration.

"The procedure involves a verification process of the person's origins. We have to look into the elements of their claims to ensure that they are civilians in need of temporary protection. To some extent, it would take into account their ethnicity as well," he said.

Exponential increase

Terrefe said other Acehnese who arrived in Malaysia before the outbreak of the conflict in May would also be eligible since the agency takes into account the non-viability of their return home while fighting is still going on.

"The claimants from Aceh have been here for some time and we are receiving between 200 to 300 applications weekly. They now make up the largest proportion of our case load and the increase has been exponential," he said.

"Although the Indonesian government has estimated the conflict could (last up to) six months, from our experience, such things could go on for some time. The UNHCR will extend protection as long as it is necessary," he added.

Malaysia has been home to a significant number of Acehnese asylum seekers over the past few decades as a result of the protracted conflict between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group.

Hopes for a peaceful settlement of the conflict were dashed in May when negotiations brokered by Switzerland's Henry Dunant Centre broke down, leading to a all-out military operation to wipe out the separatists.

This has since led to a surge in asylum applications at the UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur.

Understanding reached

Martin said the main challenge facing the agency now is to gain the government's acceptance of these letters.

Although the government has not decided on this, he said the immigration authorities have agreed that detention camps are not suitable places for holding refugees.

According to UNHCR records, a total of 33 Acehnese are currently being held in the Semenyih detention centre. This is in addition to a smaller number of refugees of other nationalities.

"We have appealed to the government not to have these people locked up in the first place. The authorities have been quite co-operative and there is an understanding that refugees should not be detained. We are trying to work out an arrangement now for their release," Martin said.

Martin said based on the agency's assessment, only about one percent of the refugees on its list have faced arrest.

"Considering that nothing is formalised and codified in Malaysia (in regard to refugees), one percent is not very bad but our objective is to eliminate this problem altogether," he said.

Immigration department officials were not available for comment today.

Refugee convicted

Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and is therefore not obliged to accept resettlement of refugees in the country. However, the government has tolerated their residence in Malaysia pending resettlement arrangements.

The problems of arrest and detention of UNHCR refugees was recently highlighted by the case of Acehnese Ahmad Adnan Abdul Kadir who was sentenced in April to a 10-month jail term and two strokes of the rotan under the Immigration Act despite holding refugee status.

His case was dismissed last week by the Ampang magistrate's court after the prosecution withdrew the charge in response to UNHCR intervention.

Ahmad has since been approved for resettlement in Denmark, but is required to remain at the Semenyih detention camp until his departure.