Asylum role for career diplomat

ALMOST a year after the High Court ruled the Malaysia Solution unlawful, cruelling any hopes the major parties had of processing asylum-seekers offshore, the Gillard government has appointed a new ambassador for people-smuggling, career diplomat Craig Chittick. 

 

Mr Chittick, whose background includes postings in Malaysia and Indonesia -- key players in the smuggling trade -- will work with the region to stem the growing number of asylum-seekers arriving on Australia's shores.

But his tools for doing so will be very limited.

In August last year, the High Court ruled the Malaysia people swap unlawful, destroying a deal announced in May that would have involved 800 Australia-bound asylum-seekers being transferred to Malaysia in exchange for 4000 declared refugees over four years.

The ruling cast a cloud of doubt over transferring asylum-seekers to countries that are not signatories to the UN Convention on Refugees.

Over the past few years the people-smuggling ambassadorship has been one of the most dynamic roles in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Mr Chittick's predecessor, James Larsen, was instrumental in helping to broker the Malaysia Solution and, before that, the ill-fated Timor solution.

Appointed in February 2010, Mr Larsen is now Foreign Minister Bob Carr's principal adviser.

The appointee before that, Peter Woolcott, devoted much of his time to imposing greater rigour on the Immigration Department's wildly inconsistent refugee selection process, considered by many in Foreign Affairs to be a major pull factor for the asylum boats.

Despite the High Court's ruling, the government has vowed to fulfil Australia's side of the bargain.

Last week, the Immigration Department revealed that 1126 visas had been issued to refugees in Malaysia. On average, Australia has taken about 350 refugees a year from Malaysia.

The numbers mean Australia is bound to take another 3000-odd asylum-seekers from Malaysia over the next three years.

Senator Carr said Mr Chittick would be responsible for fostering international co-operation in the fight against people-smuggling.

The collapse of any political agreement between Labor and the Coalition -- both of which support the principle of offshore processing -- has led boat arrivals to skyrocket to near-record levels.

This month 1061 people arrived by boat, a rate of arrival not seen since August 2001 when 1645 were intercepted.

Source : http://www.theaustralian.com.au