Australia’s asylum-seeker policy after the failed Malaysia Solution
Former refugees and their children from Myanmar who had settled in Malaysia chat in their house in Kuala Lumpur. The Australian High Court dealt a heavy blow to the government on 31 August by blocking its plans to send asylum-seekers to Malaysia, ruling they could not go to a nation lacking legal safeguards. Australia had hoped to send up to 800 asylum-seekers to the Asian nation in exchange for resettling 4,000 of its refugees, and the decision leaves hundreds of boat people in legal limbo. (Photo: AAP)

Author: Marianne Dickie, ANU

The recent High Court of Australia decision effectively ended the Australian Government’s ‘Malaysia Solution’, where the incumbent Labor government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard had agreed on a bilateral deal with Malaysia that would see 800 asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat be taken to Malaysia.

In return, Australia would accept 4,000 already-processed refugees from Malaysia over four years. Importantly the High Court case exposed the weakness behind the Malaysia Solution and the faulty premise upon which it was established. Read more…