'Refugee deal part of bigger picture'

MALAYSIA will continue working with its Australian counterparts to share intelligence, technology and surveillence to curb transborder crime even if the refugee swap deal, which was signed on July 25, did not work out.

Commenting on the possibility that an injunction imposed by the Australian high court in August could remain, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said even if the Australian parliament -- which is set to vote today on amendments to its Migration Act to bypass the injunction -- did not support the deal, "other arrangements and cooperations are still ongoing".

"So it is a question of legal interpretation and the political will. But it will not stop us from moving ahead."

He said officials from nine ministries and agencies from both countries would meet for the sixth time next month as part of their cooperation to address and curb transborder crime.

"This (the refugee swap deal) is just a small part of the bigger picture. The whole reason we are doing this is to send a message to the syndicates to not look at Malaysia or Australia as a country of destination or transit anymore," he said yesterday.

Under the deal, Australia would send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia and they would have their refugee claims processed here, while Australia would accept 4,800 people from Malaysia who have already been granted refugee status.

But on Aug 30, Australia's highest court made permanent an injunction that stood since Aug 8 after ruling that Malaysia was not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention and the deal with Australia did not legally bind Malaysia to recognise the status of refugees.

Hishammuddin quoted a report in Australia's The Age newspaper (on Tuesday), which quoted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regional representative Richard Towle, who supported Malaysia's plan.

Towle had said Malaysia allowed asylum seekers to work or live in the community and that Malaysia also planned to extend legal work rights to all refugees, not just those sent from Australia.

Hishammuddin said such a statement showed that Malaysia's idea was "outside the box" and should be made an example to address international issues if it was allowed.

He said the refugee swap deal was part of a larger plan to combat human trafficking and transborder crime that included the 6P programme, biometric registration, Advance Passenger Screening System (APSS) as well as bilateral ties with China, Bangladesh, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.

On the 6P programme, Hishammuddin said about 50,000 out of the 2.3 million illegals who registered did not have employers and could easily be absorbed into the labour force, provided Malaysians were given the opportunity first.

In his reply to Nancy Shukri (BN-Batang Sadong), Hishammuddin said the injunction only affected the partnership arrangement between both countries, and not Malaysia's image. - The Malaysian Bar