ID :
198377
Mon, 08/01/2011 - 04:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/198377
The shortlink copeid
FIRST BOATLOAD OF ASYLUM SEEKERS TO BE SENT TO MALAYSIA ARRIVES
By Neville D'Cruz
MELBOURNE, Aug 1 (Bernama) -- A boatload of asylum seekers has been
intercepted northwest of Australia and will be the first to be sent to Malaysia under the federal government's people swap deal.
HMAS Ararat intercepted the boat north-west of Scott Reef in the Timor Sea on Sunday morning, the government said in a statement. There were 54 asylum seekers and two crew on board.
Malaysia is set to accept 800 asylum seekers in exchange for Australia taking 4,000 bona fide refugees over four years after the two governments signed the deal on Monday.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the asylum seekers would be taken to Christmas Island initially before they are flown to Malaysia three days later.
"We will begin our pre-transfer arrangements which involves assessing the vulnerability of people and assessing people to fly. Then we begin the process of transferring people to Malaysia," he told Sky News.
Bowen would not say whether he would send children, particularly those unaccompanied, to Malaysia, if they were among the asylum seekers on the boat.
"There are no blanket exemptions. But we will look at each individual and assess whether it is the appropriate thing to transfer them to Malaysia and what extra care and protection needs to be in place at the other end," he said, adding that the Malaysia deal was not a "voluntary arrangement".
The government has boosted the numbers of security staff, assessment staff, Australian Federal Police and counsellors on Christmas Island to deal with asylum seekers refusing to board planes, Bowen said.
"The Federal Police will play a role in the transfer," he said.
Bowen hopes the 800 people cap is never reached. He said the people swap deal was new territory and the government was taking a wait-and-see approach.
"If 800 people don't arrive and Australia still accepts the 4,000 refugees from Malaysia it's still a pretty good outcome because Australia has increased its humanitarian intake," he said.
Bowen is not afraid of strong media scrutiny of the conditions faced by the first boatload of asylum seekers once they arrive in Malaysia.
MELBOURNE, Aug 1 (Bernama) -- A boatload of asylum seekers has been
intercepted northwest of Australia and will be the first to be sent to Malaysia under the federal government's people swap deal.
HMAS Ararat intercepted the boat north-west of Scott Reef in the Timor Sea on Sunday morning, the government said in a statement. There were 54 asylum seekers and two crew on board.
Malaysia is set to accept 800 asylum seekers in exchange for Australia taking 4,000 bona fide refugees over four years after the two governments signed the deal on Monday.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the asylum seekers would be taken to Christmas Island initially before they are flown to Malaysia three days later.
"We will begin our pre-transfer arrangements which involves assessing the vulnerability of people and assessing people to fly. Then we begin the process of transferring people to Malaysia," he told Sky News.
Bowen would not say whether he would send children, particularly those unaccompanied, to Malaysia, if they were among the asylum seekers on the boat.
"There are no blanket exemptions. But we will look at each individual and assess whether it is the appropriate thing to transfer them to Malaysia and what extra care and protection needs to be in place at the other end," he said, adding that the Malaysia deal was not a "voluntary arrangement".
The government has boosted the numbers of security staff, assessment staff, Australian Federal Police and counsellors on Christmas Island to deal with asylum seekers refusing to board planes, Bowen said.
"The Federal Police will play a role in the transfer," he said.
Bowen hopes the 800 people cap is never reached. He said the people swap deal was new territory and the government was taking a wait-and-see approach.
"If 800 people don't arrive and Australia still accepts the 4,000 refugees from Malaysia it's still a pretty good outcome because Australia has increased its humanitarian intake," he said.
Bowen is not afraid of strong media scrutiny of the conditions faced by the first boatload of asylum seekers once they arrive in Malaysia.
