The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen has conceded that implementing the recently announced Malaysian agreement relating to asylum seekers will be tough. He has already seen resistance from the refugee sector and is likely to get the protests and legal challenges that he anticipates.
But there are opportunities in the announcement that may also deliver good news for some asylum seekers and the refugee sector.
Firstly, for years refugee advocates have lobbied for an increase in the annual quota of refugee and humanitarian entrants from the current rate of 13,750 to 20,000 or more. While the increase in resettlement places that accompanies the Malaysian agreement falls well short of this, nonetheless it is an increase.
It also couldn't come at a better time. With the linking of offshore and onshore places within the humanitarian program, increasingly the numbers arriving in Australia by sea is limiting those places available for offshore resettlement. Family members and community groups trying to bring refugees to Australia who are languishing in camps around the world have been frustrated by the shrinking proportion of offshore places available for applicants to enter Australia.
While the increase will specifically target those in Malaysia, it is at least a step in the right direction for Australia to continue to expand what is a highly valued offshore re-settlement program.
Secondly, while the conditions for asylum seekers in Malaysia have been a human rights concern for many years, not much has happened to create positive change. Minister Bowen has made a commitment that the Australian Government will have oversight with the Malaysian Government, UNHCR and International Organisation for Migration, and that the Prime Minister of Malaysia has given a firm commitment that asylum seekers sent by Australia will be treated with dignity and respect.
There is no question these commitments mean little without evidence in what is a very concerning protection environment for asylum seekers in Malaysia. However, with Australia providing such oversight and the public exposure of the human rights context for asylum seekers in Malaysia, opportunities could come for change.
If this announcement could create a model for effective and safe care of asylum seekers in Malaysia it could also engage a greater proportion of civil society in community based care. Such a model may have positive flow on effects for other asylum seekers not involved in the Australian agreement as civil society in Malaysia is empowered