Malaysia: Fear of forcible return/ill-treatment

Index Number: ASA 28/001/2007
Date Published: 27 June 2007
Categories: Asia And The Pacific, Malaysia

Approximately 217 people, including refugees and asylum-seekers, were detained on 25 June in a raid on the Chin Refugee Centre in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. They are mainly Chin people from Myanmar, recognised as refugees by the UNHCR. Among them are five pregnant women and at least 10 children. They are at risk of corporal punishment for breaking Malaysia's immigration laws, and of being forcibly returned to Myanmar, where they would be at grave risk of torture.