Early 1990s The Indonesian military launches Operation Red Net, a counterinsurgency campaign. Aceh is designated a military operations area. Malaysia reportedly arrests over 280 Acehnese activists but keeps them in detention rather than deporting them. Forty Acehnese enter the U.S., French, Dutch, Swiss, British and Italian embassies in Kuala Lumpur and request asylum. The U. S., French, British and Italian embassies allow Malaysian police to enter their premises and forcibly remove the Acehnese, whom the police then detain.
Riots break out in the detention centers, and an unknown number of Acehnese escape.
Thirty-five Acehnese break into U.S., Swiss, French, and Brunei compounds in Kuala Lumpur. May 1998 Indonesian President Soeharto resigns from office following large-scale riots in Jakarta and widespread political and economic discontent. The new president, B.J. Habibie, promises reform. Other Acehnese in Malaysia remain in detention or in hiding. Longstanding separatist movements in Irian Jaya and East Timor gather steam.