The six children of the Burmese family living outside Kuala Lumpur's United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) building - for the 12th straight day - are very saddened by their plight but still manage to smile in the face of adversity.

Met Friday evening, the couple's eldest son Mohd Yusof 12 said he felt very sad because life was hard. By the look of his skinny frame, he is certainly suffering but from an illness he is uncertain about.

"I was hospitalised for two months recently but I'm not sure what I'm suffering from," he said meekly in fluent Malay.

His mother, Nujah, 32, carrying her four-month-old baby boy, could not name what he was suffering from but said that he becomes feverish every night and she gave him Panadol to help control his temperature.

Yusof however was not angry with his parents' decision to subject them to these tough conditions as they have been living in a tiny makeshift tent.

"My father does not have a job here and even when he works, there is not enough money for the family to live on," he said.

His younger sister, Begum,11 wore the most endearing smile on her face among the six during the meeting and asserted that she "wants to go to school and to another country", echoing her father's stand.

Refugee status

Family head, Siddik, 41, who looked more distraught and distracted today, has been adamant on wanting to be resettled to a third country having fled his native Burma 20 years ago and illegally entering Malaysia in 1989.

He has refused UNHCR's offer of a temporary protection letter and is insisting on being processed as a refugee and given an opportunity at securing placement in a third country.

The other children, Norhatun 9, Ibrahim 7 and Ismail 4 were seen playing with toys given by passers-by but said the nights were very uncomfortable with the cold and the mosquitoes and ants biting them.

"We just sit here the whole day playing, eating and reading books and magazines people gave us. It's very cold at night," added eldest girl Begum, seemingly oblivious to the situation they are in.