The Australian Government has strongly defended its move to set free nearly 100 boatpeople keen on getting refuge into the community every month even while it declared that it was the stark reality of its unsuccessful refugee exchange with Malaysia.
In this connection, Chris Bowen, the Immigration Minister, was quoted as saying that the seekers of asylum, who did not present any risk, related to either health or security, may now be set free from the detention of the government, only to be placed on the bridging visas even while their refugee claims were subjected to review.
Earlier, the seekers of refuge, who had turned up by boat, were put behind bars, in most of the cases, at secluded facilities, till their status, related to asylum, had been finalized thoroughly.
The new change implies that they will be in a position to reside in the community, and also do a job to fend for themselves even while their status was processed.
The Australian minister added that -- following the breakdown of the scheme of offshore processing of the government which has been tailored to discourage the smuggling of people -- he was expecting more such persons to indulge in the highly risky sea expedition to the nation.
Reportedly, Australia was keen on transferring nearly 800 maritime arrivals to Malaysia, in exchange for accepting 4,000 of the latter's registered refugees. However, the Australian High Court put a spanner in the plan even while the opposition went on to express its vocal disagreement.
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