The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was forced to close down its operations today after a police van was dispatched this morning to block the entrance to the agency's Kuala Lumpur office.

UNHCR refugee eligibility coordinator Evan Ruth said the agency decided to shut down its operations as it could not "credibly offer protection" to asylum seekers approaching the office.

"We cannot operate with the police present and deterring people from approaching our office. We will have to decide on a day-to-day basis (whether to resume operations) depending on what the police decide to do," he said when contacted.

"The police arrived early in the morning and left later but it was after the time that most (asylum seekers) would normally come to our office. They would have seen the police and turned back."

Yesterday, the police launched the biggest crackdown on asylum seekers in recent years by arresting more than 200 people, including women and children, when they approached the UNHCR to register for protection. The majority of them were Acehnese.

It was reported that more than 30 people were later released but most of them have been sent to the Langkap immigration detention camp in Perak.

Facing deportation

When contacted, the commandant at the camp confirmed that 239 persons have been brought to its facilities since yesterday evening.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was reported in the media today as saying that the government will deport all the detained Acehnese despite protests from the UN body.

Abdullah said that the government's stand on the asylum seekers from the war-torn Indonesian province of Aceh would be no different to that on other illegal immigrants.

"If foreigners are found without valid entry permits, they will be sent back. This is the law of the country," he was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail newspaper.

Meeting held

Meanwhile, Ruth said 14 women and two children were among those detained. Three Burmese asylum seekers were also held.

From the UNHCR's records, it was found that one person arrested was a recognised refugee, 51 had protection documents from the agency while another 45 carried tokens requiring them to return to the office for registration. The remainder were approaching the office the first time.

The UNHCR coordinator said 118 other Acehnese succeeded in registering themselves with the agency yesterday despite the police crackdown. The group had entered the agency's compound before the crackdown started and hence were not arrested.

Ruth confirmed that UNHCR officials have since attended a meeting with a Home Ministry official but he could not elaborate on the discussion. "I can only say that there was an exchange of views," he said.

Another UNHCR official, senior community services officer Jennifer Ashton said several protection officers from the agency were en route to the Langkap camp to meet with the detainees.

"Two protection officers are now on the way. We had to obtain permission from the authorities to have access to the detainees," she said.

Ashton said the agency's headquarters in Geneva and regional office in Jakarta had both expressed their concern over the developments with the Malaysian embassies in Switzerland and Indonesia respectively.

Routine patrol

Contacted later, Brickfields police chief Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin said the police were merely "doing their work" yesterday when they arrested the group.

"We are responsible for the security of the country and we are responsible for any threats or crimes," he said.

He said the police had not entered the UNHCR premises yesterday but only arrested those in the area. He also attributed police presence outside the agency compound this morning to their regular patrols in the area.

Asked about the right of asylum seekers to approach the refugee agency, he said it was the assumption of people that they had such a right. "That's what people think but they have the right to think like that," he said.

The police chief declined to say if any further operations are being planned or if he had received the directive from the Home Ministry. "I cannot say anymore on this because it is protected under the Official Secrets Act."

Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and has repeatedly insisted that it does not recognise political refugees.