Thursday, April 5, 2012

Australia honours its offer to 500 refugees

Liam Cochrane

Australia's High Commissioner to Malaysia says more than 500 refugees have arrived in Australia from Malaysia, as part of the now-scrapped proposal to swap refugees with asylum seekers.

The so called "Malaysia Solution" involved Australia swapping Malaysia 800 asylum seekers in return for an extra 4,000 recognised refugees over four years.

Australia's High Court ruled against the scheme, but Australia is honouring its offer to the mostly Burmese refugees, with High Commissioner Miles Kupa says more than 500 people have already arrived.

"A large proportion of those coming under this particular program will also be Burmese, in particular an ethnic group known as the Chin, who I think have the prospect of being very good migrants, very good members of our community here," he said.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr says Malaysia is being reconsidered as a regional solution for the processing of asylum seekers. 
 
Source : http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au

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