Australian High Court rules against refugee swap

Australia's highest court ruled Wednesday that asylum seekers can't be sent to Malaysia, a major blow to the government's plan to stem an influx of people from poor, war-torn countries attempting to reach Australia by boat.

The High Court reached a 6-1 majority decision to make permanent an injunction that has prevented Australia from transferring 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in return for Malaysia sending 4,000 registered refugees for resettlement. The ruling cannot be appealed.

Australia has long attracted asylum seekers hoping to start a new life, with more than 6,200 arriving by boat last year. Most are from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq, and use Malaysia or Indonesia as a starting point for a dangerous sea journey to Australia.

The government had maintained that the deal struck in consultation with the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, would withstand any legal challenge. Human rights groups had criticized the plan, arguing that asylum seekers are treated poorly in Malaysia, which has not signed the UN Convention on Refugees.

Government lawyers had argued in court that Australia could lawfully declare Malaysia a safe third country to process refugee claims even though it had no domestic or international legal obligations to protect refugees.

The court said in a statement that Malaysia has not signed the UN Convention on Refugees and the deal with Australia did not legally bind Malaysia to recognize the status of refugees under its domestic law. It said any suitable third country must have obligations under international or domestic law to protect asylum seekers and refugees.

The court also said Immigration Minister Chris Bowen had no legal power to remove from Australia asylum seekers whose refugee claims have not yet been determined.

Bowen said the rate of asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat had slowed since the Malaysian deal was announced in May. He now expected people smugglers would capitalize on the court ruling and boat arrivals would gather pace.

"Let's make no bones about it: Today's decision by the High Court is a profoundly disappointing one," Bowen told reporters.

"It is a significant blow to our efforts to break the people smugglers' business model," he added.

The government had sought urgent legal advice on the ruling's ramifications and the government would consider its options, he said.

Amnesty International welcomed the ruling as "a landmark victory for human rights."

The case was brought to the court by 16 asylum seekers who were to become the first to be flown to Malaysia from the Australian territory of Christmas Island.

Their lawyer, David Manne, who leads the Melbourne-based Refugee and Immigration Legal Center, called on the government to quickly process his clients' refugee claims "rather than leaving them locked up in limbo."

"I certainly feel delighted for our clients who were very fearful of being sent to Malaysia — they were absolutely petrified of being sent there," Manne told reporters. "They're extremely relieved," he added.

Malaysia has already begun sending registered refugees to Australia from among 93,000 now in that Southeast Asian nation under the deal.

Bowen said Australia would likely still accept the 4,000 from Malaysia, but reduce its intake of refugees by the same number from other parts of the world.

The ruling came after two fires broke out Wednesday at an immigration detention center in northern Australia during a protest involving alleged people smugglers.

Both blazes were extinguished and no one was hurt, though there were reports some of the detainees were throwing objects at firefighters, an immigration department spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.

Most of the people involved in the protest at the Darwin center were Indonesian crew members from boats carrying asylum seekers to Australia as part of people smuggling operations, the official said. He had no further details, and would not elaborate on what sparked the unrest.

Protests at detention centers have become relatively common.

The detainees involved in the protest were upset that officials had not agreed to certain requests regarding how they could celebrate the end of Ramadan, Islam's holy month of fasting, said refugee advocate Ian Rintoul, who spoke by phone with detainees inside the center.

The fire caused extensive damage to 20 rooms, said Rintoul, a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition. No asylum seekers were involved in the protest, he said.

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