The United Nations Refugee Agency says it has welcomed Malaysia's decision to release six Burmese babies arrested with their relatives and held for weeks for not having valid travel documents.
The agency said in a statement Monday the babies, all between the ages of four and six weeks, were released along with their mothers into UN custody last Thursday.
The agency's representative in Malaysia Volker Turk thanked authorities in Kuala Lumpur for releasing the babies and their parents from detention, calling it a humanitarian act. In total, 25 people were released.
According to the United Nations, some 43,000 persons of concern were registered with the refugee agency as of January, including about 27,000 from Burmese ethnic minorities.