Malaysia - Refugees in jungle camps face harsh life, fear crackdown

from Reuters AlertNet:

PUTRA JAYA, Malaysia, Nov 30 (UNHCR) – Living in harsh conditions in the jungle on the outskirts of Malaysia's gleaming new administrative capital of Putra Jaya, are hundreds of asylum seekers from Myanmar and the strife-wracked Indonesian province of Aceh. They live in fear of police raids and an imminent crackdown on illegal migrants.

Desperate to survive, many of the asylum seekers who had fled persecution in their own countries found illegal work on the construction sites of Putra Jaya – just like thousands of illegal migrants. Both groups live in the jungle, often sharing camps. There's a certain safety in numbers. But for the authorities, both groups are categorised as illegal migrants.

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