Travel Misery As Ash Grounds Australia, N.Z. Flights

Tens of thousands of people were stranded Monday, a day after ash from Chile's volcanic eruptions prompted Australian airlines to ground some domestic services and flights to New Zealand.

Strong winds have carried the ash clouds 9,400 kilometres (5,800 miles) across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand and southern Australia since Chile's Puyehue volcano erupted more than a week ago.

National carrier Qantas on Sunday cancelled all flights to and from the southeastern island of Tasmania and all flights to and from Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington in neighbouring New Zealand.

Fiji Launches Stinging Attack On Australia, N.Zealand

The Fiji government accused Australia and New Zealand of attempting to undermine its return to democracy and claimed Tongan navy vessels were in its territorial waters.

The hard-hitting statement, posted on the Fiji government website on Saturday, singled out the Australian and New Zealand foreign ministers, Kevin Rudd and Murray McCully, for particularly strident criticism.

It was released as runaway Fiji soldier Colonel Tevita Mara, who fled to neighbouring Pacific island Tonga three weeks ago to avoid a sedition charge, begins a round of public appearances in Australia.

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 Rejects UN Calls On Asylum Seekers

Australia has rejected recommendations in a United Nations report urging it to repeal its policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers who arrive illegally.

Canberra's response to a UN review of rights in Australia released Monday said it is committed to providing protection to refugees in line with its international obligations.

But it rejected some of the 145 recommendations, including that it scraps the detention of boatpeople or limits their detention to six months and indicated that some children would remain locked up.

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.

Canberra Rejects UN Concern Over Refugee Deal

Australia says it stands on solid legal ground when it made a deal to send asylum seekers to Malaysia. 

MELBOURNE: The Australian government insists it is on solid legal ground with its controversial asylum-seeker deal with Malaysia, despite a senior United Nations official’s comments to the contrary.

The Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told a forum in Sydney yesterday the deal – which has not yet been finalised – appeared to violate international refugee law.