The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Kuala Lumpur has registered more than 10,000 asylum seekers beginning January this year, said one of its officials today.

UNHCR protection officer Shinji Kubo said approximately half of the asylum seekers were those seeking asylum from the on-going armed conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh while the rest comprised asylum seekers from other countries affected by political instability.

"More than 4,500 of the asylum seekers are Burmese from various ethnic groups. They include the Rohingyas, Mons, Karens and Chins. A few hundred are from African and Middle Eastern countries," he said during a colloquium with journalists at the Wisma UN in Kuala Lumpur.

According to Kubo, the number of asylum seekers in Malaysia had multiplied rapidly over the past five years due to the intensification of conflicts in neighbouring countries, namely Indonesia and Burma.

For instance, he said the agency registered about 600 asylum applicants in the year 2000, 1,000 applicants in 2001 and over 2,000 applicants last year. The statistic jumped to more than 10,000 for the first 10 months of this year.

Mixed arrangement

Despite the rising figures, Kubo said attempts by the agency to work on policy arrangement in relation to the asylum seekers have yielded only sparse results as the government was particularly sensitive to any complications that might arise from Malaysia's acceptance of Acehnese asylum seekers.

"The arrest of the Acehnese in August showed clearly that the government did not want any misunderstandings with Indonesia. On the other hand, they are still assisting us (in providing protection to) refugees.

"It is a mixed arrangement and it is the case of some confusion. We have not been able to get the two channels closer at the moment," he said on the UNHCR's progress in talks with government agencies.

The uncertain status of asylum seekers in the country came into the media spotlight last August when the police arrested more than 200 individuals, the majority of whom were Acehnese, while they were approaching UNHCR for registration.

Although the arrests attracted international criticism, the government stuck by its position that it did not recognise asylum seekers of refugees and proceeded to arrange for voluntary return of the arrested persons.

Based on UNHCR statistics, some 130 of the asylum seekers remain in detention after a large majority of them opted to be deported back to their home countries.

New initiatives

On the case of the Acehnese, another protection officer Senai Terrefe said UNHCR had started issuing temporary protection letters since July 22 to civilians either fleeing or unable to return to Aceh because of the conflict between the Indonesian military and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (Gam).

He said the move was adopted in view of the pressing developments in Aceh which required that those fleeing the conflict be provided with a protective status in the shortest possible time.

"Aceh is still under martial law so it is not conducive for forced repatriation of the people. There is no international monitoring presence in the province and in this context, it is difficult for the UNHCR to advocate anything else," he said.

Meanwhile, Terrefe also urged the government to consider implementing initiatives similar to those adopted in other Asean countries to enable UNHCR assistance to be extended to genuine refugees.

Among these initiatives was the directive issued by the Indonesian immigration director for all enforcement officials to refer all cases relating to asylum seekers and refugees to the UNHCR.

Another move adopted in Thailand was the posting of an UNHCR protection officer in detention camps so that those detained during illegal immigrant operations would have access to the proper agencies.

"We want something like this to happen in Malaysia. What we have now are ad hoc arrangements but nothing in black and white. We are passed cases sometimes but it is not necessarily pro-active.

"If we could work out something, it would enable the UNHCR protection staff to focus resources on processing their applications and not be diverted into trying to find out if some asylum seekers have been detained," he added.

Out of some 500 recognised refugees residing in Malaysia, between 25 and 30 persons remain incarcerated despite attempts by the agency to secure their release.

Among the 10 Asean countries, only two Philippines and Cambodia are signatories to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. Indonesia is expected to consider ratifying the instrument by 2008.