Malaysia and Australia seal deal for asylum seekers

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and Australia have inked a landmark agreement to transfer and resettle asylum seekers.

Under the agreement, Malaysia will take up to 800 asylum seekers arriving by boat, in return for Australia accepting 4,000 processed refugees.

It was signed by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein andAustralian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen.

The process is expected to take four years to complete and will be funded by Australia to the tune of RM940mil.

The announcement for the agreement was made on May 7 by AustralianPrime Minister Julia Gillard.

While the start date for the exchange of asylum seekers has yet to be finalised, the first batch of transfers is expected to take place this year.

Hishammuddin and Bowen said Monday the deal reflected both countries' commitment to solve human trafficking and other issues such as terrorism and arms and drug smuggling.

Hishammuddin said this agreement was the first of its kind in the world and an "out of the box" approach to tackling such issues.

Bowen said the Australian government would spend A$292mil over the next four years under the deal.

On Sunday, Australia's Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said in Melbourne that the Australia-Malaysia asylum seeker swap deal had already deterred a very large number of asylum seeker boat arrivals.

"We want to treat people fairly. We do know that this is an innovative approach and we do believe it will undermine the people smugglers' model which is effectively saying 'if you get on this vessel we will get you to Australia and you will be settled there,'" O'Connor told ABC's "Insiders" chat programme Sunday.

That had led to people undertaking perilous voyages which sometimes ended in tragedy, he said.

"Indeed, since the announcement on May 7, we have seen a very significant decline in irregular arrivals in that period. Five hundred or so people have arrived, compared with... 1,700 in the same period last year.

"We are already seeing impacts as a result of the announcement," he said.