Opposition strikes at Malaysian solution

The arrival of 11 boats in 11 weeks carrying asylum-seekers has undermined the Federal Government's claim its planned Malaysia solution is already having an impact on the people-smuggling trade, the Opposition says.


Immigration Minister Chris Bowen is expected to sign an agreement with the Malaysian Government today which would enable Australia to send 800 asylum-seekers to Malaysia for processing.

In exchange, Australia would take 4000 refugees over four years from Malaysian camps.

On Saturday night, the navy intercepted a boat near the Ashmore Islands off Western Australia carrying 47 passengers and four crew.

The occupants of the boat were being taken to Christmas Island yesterday pending removal to a third country.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the arrival of the latest boat meant there were 567 asylum-seekers in limbo on Christmas Island.

''If Malaysia had agreed to take all the asylum-seekers that have arrived since it was first announced 11 weeks ago, the deal would be virtually over before it began,'' Mr Morrison said.

But Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said the Malaysian arrangement, which was announced in May, was deterring people from getting on unseaworthy boats to come to Australia.

It was reported yesterday that asylum-seekers sent to Malaysia under the swap would be permitted to work, unlike other people who had made refugee applications in that country.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the human rights of the asylum-seeker would be protected in Malaysia.

Almost 200 protesters marched to Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre yesterday to make a last-ditch plea to the Federal Government to scrap the $292 million deal with Malaysia.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said, ''It's [the Malaysian solution] going to violate the human rights of the 800 asylum-seekers coming here.''

The deal is already subject to a legal challenge, with immigration lawyer David Manne defending the rights of a mother and son who arrived after the May 7 announcement.

Meanwhile, up to 90 detainees are maintaining their hunger strike at the Scherger Immigration Detention Centre near Weipa, on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula.

The men have been refusing food since Thursday.

Two are unconscious and two others have cut themselves in protest over the time it is taking to process their claims. - The Canberra Times