|
Agence France Presse
November 18, 2003
Kuala Lumpur
Amnesty International on Monday called for an
investigation into reports that camp guards at a
Malaysian detention centre beat up seven Acehnese
asylum-seekers for refusing to be repatriated.
The seven, including a woman whose 13-month-old child
was also held at the Langkap Detention Centre, were
"at risk of being forcibly returned" to the troubled
Indonesian province where they may face serious human
rights violations, the group said in a statement.
The detainees were believed to be among a group of
more than 200 Acehnese asylum seekers arrested by
police outside the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
office in Kuala Lumpur in August while waiting to
lodge asylum claims, it said.
The declaration of martial law in Aceh in May had led
to renewed military operations against separatist
rebels and alleged cases of extrajudicial executions,
"disappearances" and torture, the human rights group
said.
"Grave concerns remain about the risk of the forcible
return of asylum seekers," it said.
Amnesty called for an independent investigation into
the alleged beating. It urged Malaysian authorities to
ensure that asylum seekers were not tortured, had
access to UNHCR representatives and were not forcibly
repatriated.
It said reported conditions at the Langkap centre, in
northern Perak state, were "poor and unsanitary," and
urged Malaysian authorities to respect international
standards for treatment of detainees.
The UNHCR last month urged the Malaysian government to
allow the Acehnese to remain in Malaysia until it was
safe for them to return home. According to immigration
officials last month, only 130 Acehnese were left at
the centre as the others had been deported
voluntarily.
Malaysia, which is not a signatory to the UN
convention on refugees, argues the Acehnese entered
the country illegally to seek employment and that
allowing them in could spark a flood of illegal
immigrants.
Aceh lies just across the narrow Strait of Malacca,
which separates Malaysia from the Indonesian island of
Sumatra. |
Acehnese Refugees in Malaysia
MEDIA REPORTS
