Malaysia may get more boat people
More than the proposed 800 boat people could be sent to Malaysia as the Gillard Government looks to nail down the last details of its asylum-seeker swap deal with Kuala Lumpur.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has also signalled boat people sent to Malaysia will be issued special identity tags which it is hoped will safeguard them from caning and other harsh local punishments.
By Nick Butterfly and Andrew Probyn, The West Australian
Giving further details about the deal yesterday, Mr Bowen said while the current arrangement was for Australia to send only 800 asylum seekers to Kuala Lumpur in exchange for 4000 certified refugees, that swap could eventually be expanded.
“The Malaysian Government have said themselves that if the arrangement works they would be happy to look at extending it further,” Mr Bowen said.
The Government announced its plan to swap boat people for certified refugees with Malaysia almost five weeks ago, however it is yet to officially sign off on the scheme or release details about how the exchange will work.
The deal is expected to be finalised within days and the terms could be announced on Monday.
Officials have spent weeks thrashing out the details of the agreement, with the Australian delegation seeking assurances that asylum seekers sent to Malaysia will be safeguarded from caning and other harsh punishments that asylum seekers are sometimes subjected to.
The plan has sparked unrest among some Labor backbenchers, with a number of left-wing MPs warning unaccompanied asylum seeker children should not be sent to Malaysia.
Under the yet-to-be-finalised deal, the asylum seekers will be housed in Australian taxpayer-funded accommodation for six weeks during which they will undergo security, identification and health checks.
Once released into the community they will be required to wear special identity tags which will exempt them from Malaysia’s draconian punishments meted out to illegal immigrants.
