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