A police clampdown on illegal immigrants in Penang today has come under fire with a human rights group charging that the authorities also stormed a refugee centre and arrested a number of Acehnese despite several of them having UN-issued temporary refugee protection letters.

The latest police crackdown is the second in the Bukit Jambul area in three weeks.

During the raid this morning, 17 Indonesians from the conflict-ridden province of Aceh, Indonesia, were detained at settlements located near a busy shopping centre, including eight individuals who were inside the refugee centre, said human rights group Hakam

Malaysiakini

was unable to confirm these figures with the Barat Daya OCPD district police, but understands that the operation was part of bigger clampdown on illegal migrants living in the area.

Acehnese who apply for asylum from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Kuala Lumpur are automatically issued temporary protection letters, which requests that Malaysia not deport them home, due to credible concerns for their safety.

Malaysia authorities have refused to recognise the UN papers on grounds that it is not party to the UN convention on the status of refugees, and that doing so would encourage large-scale illegal immigration from neighbouring Indonesia.

'Forced voluntary deportation'

Hakam's refugee affairs coordinator Alice Nah said the police raid today was a 'serious blow' to refugee protection in the country and comes on the heel of recent moves 'to pressure refugees to return home voluntarily'.

She said there was concern that conditions in illegal immigrant detention centres in the country were 'purposely kept uncomfortable' in order to encourage detainees to opt for voluntary deportation.

She said the harsh conditions meted out to the detainees included being given inadequate meals, being prevented from regular bathing and being forced to sleep on the floor.

"Over the past year, other Acehnese refugees who opted for this voluntary deportation under duress were subsequently re-arrested upon their arrival in Sumatra before being interrogated and tortured," she said.

Meanwhile, the Penang-based Citizen's International group said detaining Indonesian asylum-seekers inside illegal immigrant camps pending resettlement in a third country was not a solution.

"Because there is no third country available to receive them, individuals will end up staying inside these camps for prolonged periods.

"We are aware of at least one individual from Aceh who have been living inside Langkap for nearly two years," said its officer Shabrimi Sidek.

Civil war

Refugees with the UN letters are supposed to be held by the Malaysian immigration department until the UNHCR is able to resettle them at a third country.

However, the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur has found that the inflow of Acehnese was too large to be speedily processed for resettlement and had requested that the Malaysian government temporarily tolerate their presence on humanitarian grounds.

The Indonesian government has been waging a civil war against separatist group Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) in northern Sumatra and military action was stepped up in May last year.

Rights groups say that the military action has resulted in massive numbers of displaced Acehnese people but are unable to provide concrete figures because of Jakarta's refusal to allow independent monitoring of the refugee situation there.