Two Burmese women pleaded guilty today to breaking immigration regulations after having earlier claimed trial and held for seven months on remand at the Kajang women's prison.

The Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court sentenced them to three and four months' jail respectively from the date of arrest for being in the country illegally. As they have served the sentence, they were taken to the Semenyih immigration detention camp.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had issued them refugee status after their arrest on June 16 last year.

One of the women was charged under Section 15 of the 1967 Immigration Act for staying in the country beyond the expiry of her visa, while the other was charged under Section 6 (1)(c) for not possessing a valid travel document.

Those convicted are liable to be fined not more than RM10,000, or sentenced to not more than five years imprisonment, or both. Offenders may also be given up to six strokes of the rotan.

Their lawyer, Latheefa Koya, said efforts will be made to secure their release from Semenyih on medical grounds. One refugee is said to be suffering from high blood pressure, while the other has asthma.

(Refugees can be detained at immigration camps until a third country accepts them for resettlement.)

New date set

The two, who are in their late twenties, were arrested while visiting 64 fellow refugees at the Pudu police station. The group had been arrested earlier that day after allegedly demonstrating in front of the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and are facing charges.

They were commemorating the 60th birthday of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and protesting against the Burmese military junta.

Two minors who were in the group appeared in the Kuala Lumpur Juvenile Court today for mention of their cases, but this was postponed to Feb 20.

Their lawyer said the Attorney-General's (AG's) Chambers had yet to respond to a request to drop the charges. The two, who were 17 when arrested, have been remanded at the Kajang prison for the past seven months.

Two other Burmese arrested at the time were released earlier this month after charges against them were dropped on grounds that they were refugees.

In an unrelated case, a teenage Burmese refugee was released into the custody of the UNHCR today, after being remanded for more than three months in Kajang prison.

The refugee, 16, had been charged under Section 6 (1)(c) of the Immigration Act.

The AG's Chambers decided to drop the case after representation was made on grounds that he was a minor and a refugee registered with the UNHCR.

He was arrested in October last year during a dragnet against undocumented migrants and migrant workers.