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Australia and US agree refugee swap
Australia and the United States have agreed to exchange dozens of asylum seekers held in offshore detention camps, in what officials say is a move aimed at discouraging people smuggling.
Under the deal, refugees intercepted at sea by Australian authorities and held at offshore detention centres could be resettled in the United States, John Howard, the Australian prime minister, said on Wednesday.
Australia, in turn, may resettle an unspecified number of Cuban and Haitian asylum seekers also intercepted at sea and sent to US detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Howard said the refugee swap would deter potential illegal migrants to Australia or the US, by denying them their intended destination country.
But critics have said the plan could actually encourage asylum seekers.
'Tough policy'
Speaking to Australia's ABC radio, Howard said the move was "part of our policy to reinforce the message to those who would engage in people smuggling that this country has a tough border protection policy".
Illegal immigration has been a focus of intense political debate in Australia since the 1990s, when a wave of asylum seekers reached Australia's northern shores in rickety boats launched from nearby Indonesia.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9688BE00-973A-4124-BF03-2692610BF66C.htm
Australia, in turn, may resettle an unspecified number of Cuban and Haitian asylum seekers also intercepted at sea and sent to US detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Howard said the refugee swap would deter potential illegal migrants to Australia or the US, by denying them their intended destination country.
But critics have said the plan could actually encourage asylum seekers.
'Tough policy'
Speaking to Australia's ABC radio, Howard said the move was "part of our policy to reinforce the message to those who would engage in people smuggling that this country has a tough border protection policy".
Illegal immigration has been a focus of intense political debate in Australia since the 1990s, when a wave of asylum seekers reached Australia's northern shores in rickety boats launched from nearby Indonesia.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9688BE00-973A-4124-BF03-2692610BF66C.htm
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The Australian government said yesterday the aim of both countries was to deter illegal immigrants, by preventing them from settling in the destination of their choice. Only people established as genuine refugees will be eligible, and a maximum of 400 a year will be exchanged.
Australia already detains most asylum-seekers before they reach the mainland, then sends them to the impoverished Pacific island of Nauru to be processed. Some languish there for several years, although most are eventually recognised as having a genuine claim.
Those established as legitimate refugees are still regarded as queue-jumpers by Australia, which has been trying without success to persuade third countries to resettle them. It seems to have finally achieved that end with a like-minded government and close political ally.
Thousands of Cuban and Haitian "boat people" are picked up every year en route to the US and detained at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay. They could now end up in Australia, an unfamiliar country with which they have few cultural links.
While some critics called the scheme inhumane, others warned it could backfire. The US is a highly desirable destination, and politicians and human rights groups predicted that the plan would encourage more people, not fewer, to embark on the dangerous ocean voyage to Australia.
The opposition Labour Party spokesman on immigration, Tony Burke, said: "If you are in one of the refugee camps around the world, there is no more attractive destination than to think you can get a ticket to the USA.
More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/article2461402.ece