Australian bishops welcome high court ruling on asylum seekers
The Australian Catholic bishops have welcomed this week’s decision from the country’s
high court, which yesterday ruled that the government cannot send asylum seekers to
Malaysia under a controversial deal between Canberra and Kuala Lumpur. The court said
in a statement that the agreement should be terminated because the rights of asylum
seekers could not be guaranteed in Malaysia, which has not signed the United Nations
Refugee Convention. Australia had planned to send 800 detainees to Malaysia in exchange
for 4,000 verified refugees. The court’s decision is a major blow to Canberra’s plan
to stem an influx of people from poor, war-torn countries attempting to reach Australia
by boat. The immigration point man for the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference
, Fr. Maurizio Pettena told Chris Altieri now is the time to find the political will
to address the issue of immigration seriously. “The question is: what is the peculiar
contribution of the Catholic Church to the whole discussion?” said Fr. Pettena, adding
that the Church desires to help build political will by fostering dialogue apt to
refocus the debate on questions of human rights and dignity. Listen