(AFP) More than two dozen illegal immigrants from military-ruled Burma today invaded the grounds of the UN refugee agency to seek asylum.

A total of 28 immigrants from Burma's minority Rohingya Muslim community entered the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) centre in Kuala Lumpur at dawn and camped in the compound.

Police were called and kept guard outside the UNHCR building.

"We came here to ask them to help us find a solution to our situation, to find a way to ensure our lives are safe," Abib Peter, 36, told reporters through the centre's fence.

Abib said he had been living in Malaysia for the past eight years as an illegal immigrant and hoped the UNHCR could grant him and his family asylum in a third country.

"Right now, wherever we go, we are in danger. Our kids cannot even go to school," he said. "It doesn't matter where they send us, we just want our lives to be safe."

Individual interviews

He claimed some 2,000-3,000 Rohingyas were staying in Malaysia after fleeing persecution and torture in Burma.

Many of those deported by the Malaysian authorities have "just disappeared," he alleged.

UNHCR officer Yoshiteru Tsuji told reporters he would interview the 28 immigrants individually and record their requests but the group would not be allowed to stay at the centre.

He declined to say whether they would be granted asylum.

Around 2,500 Rohingya Muslims fled Burma in 1991-92 alleging persecution by the army, but most were later repatriated with the help of the United Nations.