The human rights commission today commended the authorities for temporarily shelving the decision to deport eight Acehnese amid civil strife in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

According to Prof Hamdan Adnan, Suhakam commissioner in charge of the Complaints and Investigation Working Group, he has come to understand from camp officials that the order, made on humanitarian grounds, will remain "indefinitely".

He was told of this decision during his visit to the Langkap detention camp yesterday, which came at the heels of pressure groups claiming that the eight Acehnese were 'coerced' into signing deportation papers.

Hamdan's team was yesterday given access to the group, detained at the depot since Aug 2003, as part of investigations into complaints that the eight - including a sick mother and child - were to be deported against their will.

The 13-month-old infant, said Solidarity for Aceh's K Shan, was reported to be in "unstable condition, still vomiting and crying after the discharge from hospital. The mother of the infant, too, is reported to be weak and psychologically disturbed."

Reunite family

However, Hamdan's team observed that the child, while appearing underweight, did not appear to be ill at the time of visit.

On concerns raised that the father was separated from the two and held at the Lenggeng detention centre, Suhakam said authorities had already given assurance that they would look into reuniting the family.

In a statement today, Suhakam "welcomed the decision" not to return the mother and child to Aceh - which it considered as consistent with Article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Malaysia in 1995.

Under the article, the commission added, states are obligated to ensure protection and humanitarian assistance to children seeking consideration for refugee status.

However, the government had rejected the argument that it is obligated to recognise the refugee status of conflict-fleeing Acehnese, on grounds that it had not signed the UN Convention on Refugees.

For Hari Raya

On a separate note, Hamdan said that a number of Acehnese that the commission had met in Langkap yesterday had appealed to the commission for help in securing their return passage to Aceh in time for Hari Raya.

Other than the eight, he said, there were twelve other Acehnese in the camp - eleven of whom had expressed their desire to be returned to Indonesia.

"It seems that they just want to get out, rather than remain under detention," said Hamdan.

Additionally, the detainees had complained to him that their passports are currently being held by Serendah police. At press time, the officer-in-charge of matters related to illegal immigrants could not be reached for comments.