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Thursday, October 28, 2010 - 5.55 GMT |
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Australia to
process alleged refugees regionally |
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As would-be refugees continue to embark on dangerous ocean journeys, trying to reach Canadian and Australian shores, the Australian government has started discussions aimed at developing a long-term regional protection framework to address irregular migration, stated Justin Brown, Australia’s High Commissioner to Canada in an article to the Globe and Mail published yesterday (October 27).
People smuggling has been a prominent issue in Australia for some years. In 2010 to date, a total of 105 boats have arrived in our waters with asylum seekers on board, and there are currently more than 4,600 people in immigration detention in Australia. Most of the irregular maritime arrivals stem from the people-smuggling trade.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who has described irregular migration as a global challenge, says she wants to take a regional approach. She has committed the government to a program of co-operation with countries of transit, destination and origin, as well as relevant international organizations.
We see a key element of an enduring framework as a regional processing centre that would receive and process irregular arrivals to the region. Such a centre would remove the capacity of the people-smuggling gangs to market particular destinations – which, in turn, could bring an end to dangerous ocean voyages.
Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney was briefed on this proposal during his recent visit to Canberra. Shortly afterward, his Australian counterpart, Chris Bowen, visited Timor-Leste to discuss the prospect of establishing a regional processing centre in that Southeast Asian country.
The talks resulted in an agreement to establish a high-level task force to consider the regional processing centre proposal that will be put to both the Australian and Timor-Leste governments in early 2011 and developed under the auspices of the Bali Process, a multilateral gathering established by Australia and Indonesia in 2002 to develop practical responses to irregular migration among member countries. Canada is an observer. The third ministerial conference, which took place in Indonesia in April of 2009, focused on people smuggling, human trafficking and transnational crime.
While Australia is committed to finding a durable solution that will destroy the people-smuggling business, we’re equally committed to doing it properly. Apart from discussions with Timor-Leste, we’re continuing to engage many of our regional partners, notably Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
We recognize that careful consideration will need to be given to the number of asylum seekers sent to the centre, and it will be important for resettlement to be internationalized.
A critical element to the success of the processing centre will be a commitment from resettlement countries to resettle people from the centre. And there would also be merit in implementing a communications campaign that would explain to potential asylum-seeker populations how the centre would operate.
Australia is focused on ensuring that people are treated in accordance with our international obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. And we believe that any regional protection framework must have at its core the Refugee Convention. One way to achieve this is for the regional processing centre to be in a country that’s a party to the convention, such as Timor-Leste.
Australia believes that a solution needs to involve the establishment of a framework for orderly migration within the region. We want to take measures as quickly as possible that will stop people from getting into boats, but we’re also conscious that this problem must be tackled methodically and with the co-operation of the international community.
Courtesy : The Globe and Mail
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