Call for agreement on a regional solution for refugees
After a boat carrying asylum seekers sank last week people from both sides of politics have called for a compromise on asylum seeker policy. But Federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott has dismissed a bipartisan approach. About 90 people are thought to have drowned when the boat capsized, and experts say if politicians don’t come to an agreement on a regional solution we will continue to see tragedies like this one.
A regional agreement, according to experts, would involve processing overseas, support to other countries in the agreement from Australia, and an increase in the number of refugees accepted to Australia from off shore processing. But there is disagreement over whether the Malaysian solution is a step in the right direction towards a regional solution.