A rights group today pressed the government to free 108 Burmese nationals held by police, saying that the minority Rohingya Muslims were escaping persecution by the military junta in their country.

"They are not illegal immigrants. They are refugees seeking protection in Malaysia," Zafar Ahmed, president of the Rohingya Human Rights Organisation in Malaysia told AFP .

"We urge the government to free and provide them temporary shelter in Malaysia."

Malaysian maritime authorities on Monday detained the group for entering the country illegally after they were found on a fishing boat with no food or water.

The men were found crammed into a boat meant for 10 people.

All male

State Bernama news agency quoted officials saying that everyone on board was male, aged between 12 and 52 years. They will be charged with entering the country illegally.

One of the illegal migrants was quoted by a local daily as saying the men hoped to secure jobs in Malaysia.

Zafar said there were an estimated 19,000 Rohingyas in Malaysia and many were registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees here.

Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of foreign labour.

Foreign workers, both legal and illegal, account for about 2.6 million of its 10.5-million workforce, supplying much-needed labour, especially in the country's construction and plantation sectors.

But they are widely blamed for crime and other social ills, and the government is mulling a controversial bill that proposes 24-hour surveillance of foreign workers, including on their days off.