Malaysia 'To Press On With Australia Refugee Swap'

Malaysia said Friday that it will forge ahead with a controversial refugee swap deal with Australia that has drawn the ire of lawmakers in Canberra and human rights activists.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein insisted the deal was a way to discourage the increased smuggling of people from mainly impoverished and wartorn countries through Malaysia to Australia.

Under the deal, Australia would return 800 newly arrived boat people to Malaysia, where their claims for asylum will be processed. In return, Australia will resettle 4,000 registered refugees from Malaysia over the next four years.

Australia Boatpeople Set To Bypass Malaysia Laws

The 800 boatpeople Australia plans to send to Malaysia will be granted immunity from the country's harsh immigration laws, eliminating the threat of caning, reports said on Thursday.

Rather than being sent to existing detention camps, they will spend six weeks in a new Australian-funded holding centre before being issued identity tags and released into the community, News Limited newspapers said.

This will allow them to avoid being treated as illegal immigrants under Malaysian law, which will protect them from the possibility of caning and other human rights abuses.

Australia Says Rights Key To Malaysia Refugee Deal

By Agence France-Presse

Australia Sunday said human rights would be a key element in its deal with Kuala Lumpur to send hundreds of asylum seekers to Malaysia, as the UN welcomed its move to treat minors on a case-by-case basis.

Australia is in advanced discussions with Malaysia on a plan to send 800 asylum seekers to the Southeast Asian nation in exchange for accepting some 4,000 of its registered refugees.

Cabinet minister Jenny Macklin said a human rights reference was included in Australia's original in-principle agreement between Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her Malaysian counterpart and the issue was key to the government.