The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it has "turned the page" on the controversial arrests outside its Kuala Lumpur office last year, and hopes to begin "constructive dialogue" with the Malaysian government to reach a common ground.

Ahead of World Refugee Day on Sunday, UNHCR representative Volker Turk said today that the organisation is "confident of overcoming past difficulties" through detailed discussion with Malaysian authorities to resolve the differences related to refugee issues.

In August last year, some 250 asylum-seekers, mostly from the war-torn Indonesian province of Aceh, were arrested by Malaysian police who set up road blockades around the UNHCR office.

The police maintained their road blocks several weeks afterwards, essentially deterring new asylum seekers from approaching the office.

Despite coming under heavy fire from local human rights groups, the government defended the arrests and subsequent deportation of the asylum seekers on the ground that it needed to halt the wave of illegal immigrants entering the country.

A manageable challenge

Responding to the Malaysian government's fear of being 'swamped' by illegal migrants, Turk said that such concerns are "very real", but they are also faced by many countries around the world, especially those in the developed world.

Once countries resolve to provide human rights protection the refugees, he said, the biggest challenge would be in drawing distinction between economic migrants and refugees.

"We however think that this is manageable. It is a big challenge, but it is a manageable challenge," he said.

Malaysia has strictly refused to recognise the status of refugees on the ground that it is not party to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees. This poses a problem for UNHCR and human rights groups who rely on the authorities to make clear distinction between economic migrants and refugees. Only 145 states have ratified the convention.

Turk, in stressing UNHCR's willingness to deepen dialogue with the Malaysian government, said that it nevertheless continues to work closely with countries that have not signed the refugee convention.

However, he also said that there are certain basic international principles that apply to countries, irrespective of whether they have acceded to the convention.

"One such principle is non- refoulement , or the right not to be forcibly returned to a country where there is reason to fear persecution. International protection of refugees is considered a common trust of shared responsibility." Turk said.