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Detainees in Malaysian detention facility (AAP)

A Malaysian refugee lawyer says she doubts Malaysia can maintain human rights standards it might promise in an asylum seeker swap deal with Australia.

A refugee lawyer from Malaysia says she doubts that country can maintain human rights standards it might promise in an asylum seeker swap deal with Australia.

Under the plan, eight hundred asylum-seekers, who have arrived in Australia by boat, will be transferred to Malaysia in return for Australia accepting four thousand refugees that have been processed there.

Renuka T. Balasubramaniam, from Lawyers for Liberty, says her clients have to endure extremely trying conditions, including being targetted by local gangsters and corrupt officials who try to extort money from asylum seekers in Malaysia.

She says that under Malaysia’s law, asylum seekers are considered illegal entries.

She describes to Kerri Worthington what a typical asylum seeker would face upon entry to Malaysia.