The government is reviewing plans to deport some 250 detained Acehnese asylum seekers and may grant them temporary stay, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today.

Although it is not Malaysia's policy to protect asylum seekers, Abdullah said the situation of the migrants from the war-torn Indonesian province of Aceh has to be given serious consideration.

"We are considering the possibility of giving them temporary stay but this is still uncertain. It needs serious consideration," he told reporters after opening a two-day Southeast Asian agricultural ministerial meeting.