Malaysia mistreats refugees

8/7/09

Tthe headline of your article on Malaysia’s attitude to asylum-seekers (”Malaysia not soft on boatpeople”, 2/7) is a contender for biggest understatement of the year. The atrocious mistreatment of asylum-seekers and refugees in Malaysia is long-standing and well-documented. A US Senate committee found that Malaysian officials transported asylum-seekers, including some who were registered with UNHCR, from detention centres to the Thai border for deportation, where they were at risk of being handed to traffickers (not smugglers) if they could not pay a ransom. The report stated that “those unable to pay are turned over to human peddlers in Thailand, representing a variety of business interests ranging from fishing boats to brothels”. Human Rights Watch has found that refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia are subject to arrest, detention, and deportation — the most fundamental breach of the UN Refugee Convention. Malaysia does not support the convention, but Australia does and should not be supporting or encouraging other governments in allowing such breaches; Andrew Bartlett Research fellow in migration law; Australian National University, Canberra;

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/index.php/ theaustralian/comments/malaysia_mistreats_refugees/;

Malaysia not soft on boatpeople; http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25720918-5013404,00.html

A test for more humane strategy

Paul Kelly; 8/7/09

Kevin Rudd and Stephen Smith now seek to validate the deepest conventional wisdom about unauthorised boat arrivals, that the essence of the solution lies in regional agreements with our Southeast Asian neighbours. With more than 800 boat arrivals in the latest phase and intelligence that an upsurge in the thousands is coming, the Rudd government faces an exacting test of the balance it has drawn. Its policy is best labelled as strong border protection leavened with humanity. Is such a compromise viable? How tenable is it for Rudd and Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, to project competing messages of Australia as a tough border protection nation that meets asylum-seekers with an accommodating humanitarianism?

See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25748662-7583,00.html

Asylum bid goes regional as globetrotting PM seeks help to stem refugee flow
Paul Maley & Mark Dodd; 7/7/09

Australia is leading a push aimed at helping countries in Southeast Asia toughen their people-smuggling laws, as authorities prepare for a fresh wave of asylum-seekers. As Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith held talks last night with the Malaysian Prime Minister in an effort to improve co-operation on people-smuggling, Attorney-General Robert McClelland said toughening penalties in Southeast Asia was central to addressing the problem. Stopping over in Malaysia on his way to international talks on climate change and the global financial crisis in Europe, the Prime Minister met with his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak. It was the first official meeting between the two leaders. Agreement on the need for better co-operation between Australia and its Southeast Asian neighbours in tackling a surge in regional people-smuggling was the main focus of talks.

See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25743747-2702,00.html