Asylum seeker debate reaches fever pitch in parliament
Planes, merchant vessels and Australian navy boats are undergoing a major rescue operation about 100 miles north of xmas island, where a vessel has sunk. About 123 to 133 people – all women and children – believed to be from Afghanistan were on board. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority reports that 123 people have been rescued. Meanwhile in parliament debate has been raging all afternoon about how to respond.
The tension is high as the government is attempting to push through an amendment to the Immigration Act known as the Bali Process 2012,which would make offshore processing of asylum seekers in Malaysia legal. But the opposition have put forward their own private members’ bill which says any offshore processing should be done in a country which has signed the UN Convention on Refugee Rights.