MOSCOW, December 1 (Sputnik) – Australia's Senate is planning to discuss the Migration and Maritime Powers bill on asylum seekers arriving in the country by boats on December 2, an online statement by the Australian government said.
The Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) bill seeks to expand the immigration minister's powers in dealing with some 30,000 illegal migrants that arrived in Australia last year by boat and are now being processed in detention centers. The motion comes amid concerns by the United Nations that the new legislation could violate human rights treaties signed by Australia.
In November, the United Nations Committee Against Torture issued a report criticizing Australia's mandatory detention policy for asylum seekers, especially regarding children and families with children, and called on Australia to "refrain from adopting any legislative or other measures that may lower the existing safeguards and standards of protection which could constitute a violation of its obligations under the Convention [against Torture]." The committee also said that all asylum claims should be thoroughly examined and that asylum seekers should receive qualified legal assistance.
Most of the asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq and Iran are coming to Australia by boat from Indonesia. According to Australia's asylum seeker policy, they are being processed in the detention centers in Papua New Guinea or Nauru, with which Australia has agreements. Those found to be refugees are then resettled in Papua New Guinea, Nauru or Cambodia. Human rights organizations have repeatedly voiced concerns about conditions in the detention camps.
Late in November, 40 asylum seekers held in a detention center on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, addressed the United States and Canada with a plea to rescue them from what they described as the "Australian version of Guantanamo."
