Australian refugee plan criticised by human rights groups:
Proposal recommending refugees who arrive by boat should be sent offshore for processing may breach refugee convention
A panel of experts set up to advise the Australian government how to deal with refugees who arrive by boat has recommended they be processed offshore in a third country, prompting condemnation from legal and human rights groups.
The panel recommended refugees be sent to the Pacific island of Nauru and to Papua New Guinea's Manus Island for processing as a disincentive to others considering undertaking the dangerous voyage to Australia.
"We recommend a policy approach that is hard-headed but not hard-hearted. That is realistic not idealistic. That is driven by a sense of humanity as well as fairness," said the panel's chair, retired Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston.
The panel recommended that the changes to asylum policy be part of a "comprehensive regional framework", which could later include Malaysia, provided that safeguards and accountability measures governing the current agreement with Kuala Lumpur could be strengthened.
The panel also recommended increasing Australia's humanitarian intake from 13,750 a year to 20,000 (rising to 27,000 over five years), as an incentive for refugees to apply through regular immigration channels.
Turning back asylum boats to where they came from was not a safe option at the moment, it said.
Human rights groups have condemned the recommendations as being in breach of Australia's obligations under the refugee convention.
"Penalising people based on their mode of arrival is clearly in breach of our obligations," Graham Thom, of Amnesty International, told ABC television.
"We are only talking about people who come by boat, we're not talking about the thousands of people who come by plane and seek asylum in this country. What we are doing is penalising one particular group and actually taking them to a very remote place where we know they've been damaged in the past and holding them hostage to stop other people from coming," he said.
Pamela Curr, of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, described the report as "a comprehensive package of harm".
"People will still drown. What this [report] is making sure is that people drown elsewhere and don't drown right in front of us," she said.
The Labor party caucus is reviewing the recommendations but the conservative opposition party welcomed the panel's findings, saying they endorsed its long-standing policy. The opposition spokesman on immigration, Scott Morrison, said the panel's report gave the government "the opportunity to fix the mess they've created" by resuming the previous conservative government's policy of offshore processing.
The Greens, who hold the balance of power in parliament, welcomed the recommendation of increasing the number of humanitarian places for refugees, but condemned offshore processing.
"This is about a policy that strips out legal protections in Australian law," said the party's leader, Christine Milne. She said the Greens would not be party to something that was "cruel to people" and "sets up a chain of detention centres right across the Pacific".
The panel was set up six weeks ago after parliament failed to reach agreement on the offshore processing of refugees (the policy of both major parties) following the sinking of two refugee boats in a week between Indonesia and Australia's Christmas Island.
Six hundred and fifty refugees trying to reach Australia by boat have been picked up this month. Over the past three years, 600 others have died at sea.
A panel of experts set up to advise the Australian government how to deal with refugees who arrive by boat has recommended they be processed offshore in a third country, prompting condemnation from legal and human rights groups.
The panel recommended refugees be sent to the Pacific island of Nauru and to Papua New Guinea's Manus Island for processing as a disincentive to others considering undertaking the dangerous voyage to Australia.
"We recommend a policy approach that is hard-headed but not hard-hearted. That is realistic not idealistic. That is driven by a sense of humanity as well as fairness," said the panel's chair, retired Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston.
The panel recommended that the changes to asylum policy be part of a "comprehensive regional framework", which could later include Malaysia, provided that safeguards and accountability measures governing the current agreement with Kuala Lumpur could be strengthened.
The panel also recommended increasing Australia's humanitarian intake from 13,750 a year to 20,000 (rising to 27,000 over five years), as an incentive for refugees to apply through regular immigration channels.
Turning back asylum boats to where they came from was not a safe option at the moment, it said.
Human rights groups have condemned the recommendations as being in breach of Australia's obligations under the refugee convention.
"Penalising people based on their mode of arrival is clearly in breach of our obligations," Graham Thom, of Amnesty International, told ABC television.
"We are only talking about people who come by boat, we're not talking about the thousands of people who come by plane and seek asylum in this country. What we are doing is penalising one particular group and actually taking them to a very remote place where we know they've been damaged in the past and holding them hostage to stop other people from coming," he said.
Pamela Curr, of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, described the report as "a comprehensive package of harm".
"People will still drown. What this [report] is making sure is that people drown elsewhere and don't drown right in front of us," she said.
The Labor party caucus is reviewing the recommendations but the conservative opposition party welcomed the panel's findings, saying they endorsed its long-standing policy. The opposition spokesman on immigration, Scott Morrison, said the panel's report gave the government "the opportunity to fix the mess they've created" by resuming the previous conservative government's policy of offshore processing.
The Greens, who hold the balance of power in parliament, welcomed the recommendation of increasing the number of humanitarian places for refugees, but condemned offshore processing.
"This is about a policy that strips out legal protections in Australian law," said the party's leader, Christine Milne. She said the Greens would not be party to something that was "cruel to people" and "sets up a chain of detention centres right across the Pacific".
The panel was set up six weeks ago after parliament failed to reach agreement on the offshore processing of refugees (the policy of both major parties) following the sinking of two refugee boats in a week between Indonesia and Australia's Christmas Island.
Six hundred and fifty refugees trying to reach Australia by boat have been picked up this month. Over the past three years, 600 others have died at sea.
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