Malaysian authorities have detained two Cambodian opposition activists while they were waiting to board a flight to Thailand in what is seen as part of a crackdown on exiled dissidents in Southeast Asia, a rights groups said late on Tuesday.
Authorities in Malaysia, along with Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, have been accused by rights groups of detaining and returning critics of neighboring governments, even those with political refugee status with the United Nations.
The two Cambodians, who include an asylum seeker, were detained on Monday night and were to be deported to their home country the following afternoon. Malaysia’s home ministry and immigration department withdrew the order after an appeal, said Jerald Joseph of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission.
