Australia and Malaysia sign an asylum-seeker deal

Yesterday Malaysia and Australia signed a deal to swap 800 asylum-seekers that arrive to Australia illegally by boat for 4,000 genuine refugees currently waiting for resettlement in Malaysia.

From midnight last night, any asylum-seeker arriving to Australia by boat will be sent to Malaysia to have their refugee claims assessed. The agreement is part of the Australian government’s push to develop a regional solution to people smuggling and to deter asylum-seekers from making the dangerous boat journey from Indonesia to Australia.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the agreement will “smash the business model of people smugglers.”

“My message to anyone who is considering paying money to a people smuggler and risking their life at sea and perhaps the lives of their family members as well, is do not do that in the false hope that you will be able to have your claim processed in Australia,” she says.

Asylum-seekers that are transferred to Malaysia will be treated lawfully and provided with exemption under the Malaysian Immigration Act and Passports Act.

They will be initially accommodated in a transit centre in Malaysia for up to 45 days with support from UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration.

Following initial processing, the transferred asylum-seekers will move into the community, with work rights, access to education and health care. Unlike the 90,000 refugees already there.

The Australian government has said that those who are transferred will receive no better or faster treatment in the processing of their claims or arrangements for resettlement over other asylum seekers in Malaysia.

The Australian Prime Minister also confirmed that the 4,000 refugees coming to Australia would be taken from those refugees already registered in Malaysia before the agreement and would not include any of the 800 asylum seekers sent from Australia.

Australia will pay for all costs – around $300 million over four years – including transport, welfare, health and education. Australia will also assist Malaysia in returning failed asylum seekers currently held in Malaysia to their countries of origin.

The agreement has the backing of both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Prime Minister Gillard promised transferees would be treated with dignity and respect.”They will not be arrested and not be caned,” she said. Malaysia has given guarantees that those transferred will be treated in accordance with human rights standards.

However the 500 asylum seekers on Christmas Island who arrived after the Government announced the swap deal but before it was signed will be processed in Australia, not offshore as initially promised.

This deal is the first of its kind and has been criticized by some organizations. Human Rights Watch has criticized the swap deal and has publicly called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to withdraw their support of the deal because the agreement would allow Australia to delegate its obligations to Malaysia, a country that has not signed the Refugee Convention.

It is now very difficult for asylum-seekers to arrive to a foreign country using the services of a people smuggler and be accepted by that country. Foreign governments want to take asylum-seekers and refugees the legal and official way through the UNHCR system found in refugee camps around the world. Australia will no longer accept any illegal boat arrivals to their shore but they will accept more than 14,000 refugees through the UNHCR system.