Malaysia's image is in no way affected by the Australian High Court ruling that has blocked implementation of a bilateral deal signed on July 25 to ‘swap’ asylum seekers.

NONE Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told the Dewan Rakyat today that the ruling did not touch on whether or not the refugees swap treaty is legal.

“The Australian High Court only issued a permanent injunction to prevent the sending of asylum seekers to Malaysia," he said during Question time.

Replying Nancy Shukri (BN-Batang Sadong), Hishammuddin further argued that the court ruling is in no way a smear on Malaysia's image as the treaty document itself remains a valid document.

He explained that the ruling only took into account concerns that Malaysia has not signed up to the UN Convention on Refugees 1951 and the 1967 protocol under this.

The bilateral treaty itself is in line with an accepted regional framework - dubbed the Bali Process, mooted in March - on multilateral and bilateral efforts to combat the irregular movement of refugees and migrants.

The injunction also gave leave to pro-migrant rights activists to contest the legality of the deal, which has come in for heavy criticism in Australia and around the world.

The Australian Parliament is still debating the treaty after it was opposed by the opposition there.

 

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