Suhakam said the 1951 Refugee Convention sets out minimum standards and regulations on the status, and treatment of asylum-seekers, and “determines if refugees are able to live and work in Malaysia”.

It would also commit Malaysia to the principle of non-refoulement — the practice of not forcing refugees or asylum seekers to return to a country in which they are liable to be subjected to persecution.

Suhakam said that natural justice demanded a political response that would ensure adherence to the principle of non-refoulement. “Suhakam hopes that the government will live up to the peoples’ hope for a nation that is compassionate and justice-based.”

Arif Komis, 43, his wife and their four young daughters were detained at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport before they were put on a flight to Turkey yesterday.

The government’s action has come under fire from rights activists, while Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said police had proof that Komis was linked to the Gulen movement, which Turkey regards as a “terrorist organisation”.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had classified Arif as a “person of concern” who could be harmed if he was forcibly returned to his home country.

In today’s statement, Suhakam said Malaysia’s Extradition Act had stipulated prohibitions against extradition in certain circumstances such as a warrant of arrest being issued against someone based on his race, religion, nationality or political opinions.

Suhakam noted that asylum-seekers had limited protection available in Malaysia, where refugee status is not recognised.

“Asylum-seekers, refugees and stateless persons in Malaysia live in a state of vulnerability, which is exacerbated by the introduction of increasingly restrictive policies that continue to narrow access to asylum,” the statement said.