
New and contradictory details of the Australia-Malaysia refugee exchange have been brought to light, as the federal Labor government grows closer to sealing the fate of up to 800 asylum seekers.
The on June 9 that asylum seekers moved from Australia鈥檚 refugee system to Malaysia will be granted 鈥渋mmunity from harsh immigration laws鈥 including human rights abuse and caning by issuing 鈥渟pecial identity tags鈥 to them. How effective this will be is far from clear.
The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) is again backing negotiations for the deal, in which Australia will send to Malaysia 800 refugees that arrived in Australia by boat and resettle 4000 refugees registered with the UN.
The UN refugee agency initially welcomed the announcement. Its regional representative Richard Towle that the refugee swap could 鈥渕ake a significant practical contribution to what we're trying to achieve in the region鈥 provided there were 鈥渃ore protection safeguards鈥.
But a by ABC鈥檚 Lateline revealed Malaysian officials had removed the terms 鈥渉uman rights鈥 from the draft introduction of the exchange agreement. It also showed internal emails from the UNHCR saying the deal 鈥渋s not one we can endorse or be positively associated with鈥.
Immigration minister the government should be 鈥淸judged] on the result 鈥 of the final agreement and the implementation of the agreement鈥. He also said he would not exempt children from the deal.
The UN refugee agency then said on June 4 it would not support the deal, because the Australian government intended to send children to Malaysia. Malaysia is not a signatory to the refugee convention or the convention on torture and practises judicial caning of refugees.
But only a day later, the its criticism and said it remained 鈥渋nvolved鈥 and 鈥渃ontinues to expect that appropriate refugee and human rights protection arrangements will be put in place for vulnerable groups鈥.
It said 鈥渘egotiations 鈥 have progressed significantly鈥 and it 鈥渨elcomed鈥 Bowen鈥檚 plan to assess lone children on a 鈥渃ase by case basis鈥.
But the government鈥檚 willingness to put children at risk and avoid talk of human rights has met with criticism from refugee supporters and the right-wing opposition.
A found 66% of people opposed the deal with Malaysia and 42% strongly opposed it.
Federal opposition leader Tony Abbott has used reports of Malaysia鈥檚 human rights abuses to push his party鈥檚 plans to revive the 鈥淧acific solution鈥 (whereby refugees seeking asylum were imprisoned in the remote Pacific island nation of Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea), claiming it to be 鈥渓ess brutal鈥 than Labor鈥檚 plans.
the government was 鈥渟tupid鈥 and 鈥渂ereft of political and moral compass鈥, the June 6 Australian said. He claimed the Malaysia swap was 鈥渕ore brutal than anything the Howard government even remotely contemplated鈥.
Two days later Abbott announced the Coalition鈥檚 anti-refugee policy even more. In a speech to the Lowy Institute, he said reopening the detention centre on Nauru and towing refugee boats back to Indonesia would deny 鈥減eople smugglers a product to sell鈥 and stop 鈥渇urther arrivals鈥.
The Coalition would weaken refugees鈥 right to appeal, give ASIO 鈥渁s much time as it needed鈥 for security checks, and bring in harsher mandatory sentencing for 鈥減eople smugglers鈥.
The details of the planned Coalition policy are cruel and severe 鈥 a new Pacific solution that will be worse than under Howard. But Abbott said it was more humane than the Malaysia swap because there is 鈥渘o possibility鈥 that asylum seekers 鈥渟ent to Nauru would ever be caned鈥.
Much of the mainstream media has toed the Coalition鈥檚 line 鈥 saying Australia should reject the Malaysia swap and instead reintroduce the Pacific Solution and detain refugees on Nauru.
In a twist for the refugee rights campaign that successfully beat back Howard鈥檚 barbaric policy, prominent refugee advocates have bought into the false debate.
Refugee lawyer Marion Le told the June 4 Australian she would 鈥渕uch rather see people taken to Nauru than 鈥 any of the other alternative places that Julia Gillard鈥檚 come up with鈥.
She said 鈥渞eopening Nauru would be far better鈥.
It is true that the Malaysia swap is racist, barbaric and unnecessarily cruel to vulnerable people who have already been through hell. But a new 鈥淧acific solution鈥 is not the answer.
Human rights lawyer Julian Burnside said the 鈥渟candalous鈥 Malaysia deal was 鈥渁s bad as the Pacific Solution鈥. He told 麻豆传媒 Weekly that 鈥渟ending people to a place where we can be confident that their human rights will be violated is worse than sending them to a place which will do what Australia tells it.
鈥淏ut both are unacceptable.鈥
Labor鈥檚 constant shift to the right on its refugee policy has allowed Abbott and the mainstream media to take up the 鈥淧acific solution鈥 again and ignore calls from refugee rights advocates to reject offshore detention policies all together.
Recently reformed refugee solidarity group ChilOut (Children Out of Detention) said on June 3 that the Australian government could not even protect refugees in domestic detention centres from harm. 鈥淭here is absolutely no way it can ensure Malaysian authorities will adequately protect children,鈥 it said.
鈥淣either will the opposition be able to do any better on Nauru. Conditions on Nauru were deplorable, with serious breaches of human rights.鈥
A signed by 17 refugee rights organisations, including the Refugee Council of Australia, Amnesty International, the Refugee and Immigration Legal Service and the Uniting Church Australia, slammed the 鈥渄ebate about asylum policy鈥 in Australia, and said it 鈥渉as now degenerated to the point where the central argument seems to be about which inhumane policy will cause the least suffering.
鈥淣either indefinite detention in the Pacific nor sending asylum seekers to uncertainty in Malaysia can be presented as a just or credible response to the needs of people seeking refugee protection in Australia 鈥
鈥淲hile Australian political leaders continue to ask 鈥楬ow do we stop the boats?鈥, the solutions put forward will almost inevitably result in highly vulnerable people being punished as an example to others.
鈥淓ach policy alternative will rightly be criticised for the devastating impacts on those being punished.鈥
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