Rights group Amnesty International today protested Malaysia's deportation of 12 asylum seekers to Indonesia's war-torn Aceh province.

Over 200 Acehnese refugees were arrested last week as they approached the United Nations High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR) office in Kuala Lumpur, with another 50 asylum seekers, mainly from Burma and Aceh, detained last Tuesday.

Amnesty expressed concern for the safety of the deported Acehnese, saying the move contravened international law ensuring that refugees are not forcibly returned to countries where they are at risk of grave human rights violations.

Evan Ruth, head of the UNHCR refugee eligibility unit here told AFP that five of the 12 deported had returned to Indonesia voluntarily.

He said 213 of the remaining asylum seekers, who are being held in various detention centres around the country, want to remain in Malaysia.

"We are still very optimistic and confident that they will not be forcibly returned," he said.

"Over the years, we have seen many asylum seekers detained here, and they are usually allowed to remain here until they return voluntarily or are resettled to a third country," he said.

Illegal workers not refugees

Perak state immigration director Ishak Mohamed said investigations had shown that the Acehnese had entered the country to seek employment and not to seek refuge,

A total of 16 had been deported after their travel documents were processed by the Indonesian embassy and their tickets bought by their families who hold permanent resident status here, he said.

The remaining detainees would be sent back as soon as their travel documents were in order.

He said 75 out of the 232 detainees had entered the country using valid passports but had overstayed their permitted six month limit.

"We suspect the others entered the country illegally. But we will still send them all back," he was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

Malaysia has rejected criticism from the UNHCR over the arrests, saying the Acehnese were picked up because they did not have valid travel documents and that allowing them in could spark a flood of illegal immigrants.

Malaysia, which is not a signatory to the UN convention on refugees, has maintained that it does not recognise refugees or asylum seekers.

Indonesia launched a massive operation to crush separatist guerrillas of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on May 19 and says more than 700 rebels have been killed since then. - AFP