2011-09-16 13:58:44

Australian bishops call for on-shore processing of refugees


Australia’s Catholic Bishops have called for on-shore processing of asylum seekers who arrive in Australia.

The Australian government has attempted to transfer refugees arriving illegally in territorial waters to third countries. However, a proposal to ‘swap’ refugees – returning illegal refugees to Malaysia and accepting already processed refugees from that country – was rejected last week by the Australian Supreme Court.

The government’s attempt to resurrect the plan was denounced by the Australian bishops, who warned that off-shore processing will not solve the underlying problems.

The Australian Bishops Conference has “protested at the way the Malaysian solution was enhanced and the fact that the Malaysian solution was not given any sort of certainties as far as the treatment of asylum seekers, and basically what the Catholic Church said was that a swapping of human being was ethically unacceptable,” said Father Maurizio Pettenà, director of the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office.

“As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, our proposal is that people be welcomed within the community and their claims for refugee status be processed within the community,” he said.


Listen to the full interview by Christopher Wells with Father Pettenà: RealAudioMP3








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