Thailand's deputy prime minister today urged the UN's refugee agency not to take up the case of 131 Thai Muslims who fled to Malaysia to avoid deadly unrest at home.

"These people are not refugees, and it's unlikely the UNHCR needs to get involved," Surakiart Sathirathai told reporters.

"This is a case of illegal entry. Many people go back and forth across the border, this just happens to be a large number of them," he said ahead of a special Thai cabinet meeting.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said Monday it would spend up to three days meeting with the Thai Muslims sheltering in Malaysia's northeastern state of Kelantan after fleeing violence in Thailand's troubled south.

Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, has given temporary shelter to the Thais pending investigation of their status and reasons for leaving, but has voiced concern over the prospect of more fleeing across the border.

Surakiart, who is campaigning to become the next UN secretary general, said Thai consular officials would meet with them in a bid to resolve the issue.

After Malaysian authorities finish their investigations, Surakiart said he expected all 131 would be returned.

UNHCR starts interviewing

Meanwhile despite this opposition from the Thai government, the refugee agency today started interviewing the 131 Thai Muslims sheltering in Malaysia.

The agency also urged Malaysia not to deport them until the interviews were completed to find out if their lives were at risk if they are returned to Thailand.

"Yes, the protection officers have arrived (at the immigration detention centre in Kelantan state). They started the interview today," a senior UNHCR official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The official said the interviews were necessary to find out why the Thai Muslims fled to Malaysia and to confirm if they needed UN protection.

"We have to see if they fall under the UN mandate for protection. Yes, they should not be sent back until our investigations are completed and a decision made," the official said.

If the UN body believes the Muslims' lives are threatened, they will be issued with UNHCR protection cards until they can return to Thailand.

The UN's action has been criticised by Thailand, but the UNHCR's representative in Malaysia Volker Turk declined to comment and referred the issue to its Swiss headquarters.

"I will ask Geneva to handle the issue," he told AFP .

Domestic issue

Thai Justice Minister Chidchai Vanasathidya accused Islamic separatists of using the refugees to boost their own cause.

"The militants just wanted to upgrade their own status," Chidchai told reporters. "This issue is purely and absolutely our domestic issue."

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last week said militants within the refugees wanted to "internationalise" the southern unrest by emigrating.

Nearly 900 people have been killed in the past 20 months in the southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia, which are home to most Muslims living in the mainly Buddhist nation.

The violence has been blamed on a mixture of Islamic separatists, organised criminals and drug dealers.