Malaysia Refugee issues grow

[ZIRC]

PUTRAJAYA: The recent tragedy near Indonesian waters involving a boat full of migrants heading for Australia shows the issue needs to be dealt with urgently by countries in the region.

“It is a critical issue that needed a regional solution,” Deputy HomeAffairs Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop said in a statement yesterday.

He said both Malaysia and Australia had decided to proceed with a bilateral engagement to seek redress on the growing problems of irregular migration in the region under the ambit of the Regional Cooperation Framework endorsed at the recent Bali Process Ministerial Conference.

However, he said the full impact of the bilateral arrangement could not be ascertained unless it was allowed to be put into reality.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, a senior Malaysian official has said Kuala Lumpur was ready to move quickly to implement its arrangement with Australia.

“We are happy to bring back the agreement with the Australian government,” the official told The Age newspaper.

He said Malaysia respected the non-refoulement principle which demands that refugees not be returned to places where their lives or freedom could be threatened.

“The UNHCR will be processing all asylum seekers who arrive in Malaysia under the arrangement,” the official said.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott said on Friday he would immediately sign off on a deal to reopen an asylum-seeker processing centre on Nauru, but remains opposed to Malaysia.

Abbott welcomed the meeting between government and opposition members to discuss the government's offshore processing proposal.

The government said it would reopen Nauru in return for the opposition's support on Malaysia, but would not reintroduce temporary protection visas.

Abbott said his party would sign off on Nauru “here, now”, but would not lend any support on Malaysia.

“I think the time for Malaysia has well and truly passed,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Nauru government has denied it could accept large numbers of asylum seekers quickly.

A government spokesman Rod Henshaw, however, told The Age that the country was willing to assist Australia. - Bernama