FED:Malaysia child transfer evil: Hockey

AAP General News (Australia)
08-05-2011
FED:Malaysia child transfer evil: Hockey

SYDNEY, Aug 5 AAP - The federal government is compounding an evil by sending unaccompanied
child asylum seekers to Malaysia, opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey says.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has said there will be no exceptions for any unaccompanied
minors who arrive in Australian territories, who will all be transferred to Malaysia under
the government's people swap deal.

But Mr Hockey says any child sent alone to Australia by their parents should not be transferred.

"The bottom line is, if a parent engages in an act of bastardry towards their child,
we can't then make the situation worse for that child and go and dump that child in a
third country without having any oversight," Mr Hockey told the Seven Network on Friday.

"I'm sorry, one evil should not be compounded by another evil by a government.

"I understand exactly where the government is coming from ... but ultimately we've
got to put the kids first here."

Mr Hockey raised concerns that there was no formal education process for child asylum
seekers in Malaysia and only one hospital serving 93,000 refugees.

It comes as the first 55 asylum seekers to be transferred to Malaysia were told of
their fate on Thursday.

The group reportedly includes 19 children, 14 of whom are unaccompanied.

Mr Bowen says pre-transfer vetting, including initial health, security, vulnerability
assessments had begun.

Federal Labor frontbencher Tony Burke defended the policy on Friday.

"Let's just not lose sight of the fact that in this trade people drown on the way here,"

Mr Burke told the Seven Network.

"And we can't change the reality that if you put some sort of incentive in that encourages
people to put children on (boats), then you will end up with children face-down in the
water."

AAP mdg/wjf/jfm

KEYWORD: BOAT HOCKEY

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