Christians and Greens find Rare Solidarity on Malaysia Deal

CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA) - The High Court of Australia has slammed an injunction on the government’s refugee swap with Malaysia after advocate groups successfully argued legal questions of human rights needed to be addressed.

The court’s decision has thrown the deal with Malaysia into serious doubt, leaving the future of 16 asylum seekers on hold for at least a fortnight while a complex set of legal arguments are put to the High Court.

In a rare sign of solidarity, Christian leaders and the Australian Greens are finding common ground in opposition to the Malaysia deal.

The Australian Greens have welcomed the High Court's extension today of an injunction to the Malaysian people swap deal.

"It's a credit to the legal team challenging this inhumane policy that the full bench of the country's highest court will now hear the case in the week of August 22," Greens' immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, said.

"We hope that in the mean time the federal government will cut its losses and scrap this shameful political deal with Malaysia.

"Australia should not proceed down this path of expelling vulnerable people, especially children, to a place where there are no guarantees their rights will be protected,” she said.

Christian ethicist and public theologian with the Tinsley Institute in Sydney, Rev Rod Benson slammed the policy, calling it an abhorrent abuse of human rights that no Christian could condone.

“The federal government’s so-called “Malaysia solution” looks like decisive action, but it’s abhorrent from a human rights perspective, and at odds with a balanced Christian view of justice and compassion,” said Rev Benson.

“The policy will send a message to prospective asylum seekers and people traffickers, but it is simply the wrong thing to do. Malaysia has not signed the UN Refugee Convention; there are significant new financial and other costs for Australia; and Malaysia’s status as an Islamic Republic raises questions about our commitment to assist those fleeing religious persecution in their homeland.

“But the worst aspect of the Malaysia solution is that we are now responsible for sending 19 children, 14 of them unaccompanied minors, to Malaysia – not to a detention facility, but apparently out in the community where an uncertain fate awaits them.

“This is not an action of a civilized, progressive democracy. Immigration policy is always a challenge, but Immigration Minister Chris Bowen must find a better alternative to the Malaysia solution before the worst happens,” he said.(Christian Today Australia)