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June 6, 2011
Illegal immigration and asylum seekers are a hot political issues in Australia with the latter becoming a defining, visceral issue that burns deep into the body politic.
In an earlier post I suggested that the Malaysian solution to the asylum seeker issue had possibilities of becoming a regional solution. That possibility looks increasingly remote.
The Gillard Government gives the appearance of struggling to finalise the deal with Malaysia, and there is little indication of other nations willing to engaging in such deals with it. Some are now accepting the Coalitions argument that the Pacific Solution is what is needed, as it would be better.
A detention centre on Nauru as a way to stop the boats means that w asylum seekers will end up in Indonesia and Malaysia. So it isn't a regional solution.
Any agreement with Malaysia can be s supported if it will lead to better protection, rights and resettlement outcomes for the thousands who are trapped inside the Malaysian borders. Will it? Labor will find that any arrangement that was not supported by UNHCR or by UNICEF Australia will be hard to sell. Australia is a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees, has so a legal responsibility to respect the standards and principles of that Convention.
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On a world stage Australia is probably looking like it is unable to cope with the issue and looking at poorly thought out plans involving other countries.
And we do have a history of poor human rights with aborigines.