The United Nations refugee agency kept tightlipped about a group of Thai Muslims who fled to Malaysia after unrest in their home country.

Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the agency would refrain from making any comment on the status of the 131 Thais.

He cited the "current sensitive situation in southern Thailand."

"We believe any public declaration on these individual cases would just complicate an already difficult situation," Redmond told reporters.

The refugees, mostly from Thailand's Narathiwat province, crossed into Malaysia late last month saying they feared for their lives, triggering a diplomatic spat between the neighbours.

Necessary safeguards

On Monday, Thai authorities said about half of the group wanted to return, but Thailand was waiting for the UNHCR to finish interviewing them at a holding centre in Malaysia before deciding what action to take.

The Thai government had urged the UNHCR not to take up their cases, claiming the group included militants and that the others were tricked into crossing the border to "internationalise" the issue.

"UNHCR has been working closely with both governments, and they are cooperating with each other to calm this situation," said Redmond.

"We are confident that both governments are working in the best interests of the 131 Thais, and that the temporary stay already granted by Malaysian authorities on purely humanitarian grounds provides the necessary safeguards at this time."

More than 950 people have been killed in southern Thailand in near daily shootings, bombing and arson attacks that authorities blame on a complex web of Islamic separatists, organised crime and local corruption.