Malaysia Solution hit by United Nations Association

THE Malaysia Solution has come under attack from the both the United Nations Association of Australia and the Law Council.

IMMIGRATION Minister Chris Bowen's beleaguered Malaysia Solution has come under attack from the both the United Nations Association of Australia and the Law Council, which have questioned the lack of safeguards to protect asylum-seekers expelled from Australia.

In a submission to a Senate inquiry probing the Gillard government's asylum-seeker transfer arrangement, the UNAA flagged concerns the ill-fated policy was in breach of Australia's international obligations and contrary to the spirit of the Refugee Convention.

Last month the High Court ruled the Malaysia Solution invalid, forcing the Gillard government into negotiations with the opposition in its attempt to amend the Migration Act and protect the bilateral agreement from another legal challenge.

The UNAA, whose patron is Governor-General Quentin Bryce, has criticised the policy for prioritising the government's aim -- of sending a strong message to people-smugglers -- over the welfare of the asylum-seekers who have travelled to Australia. "Note the order of goals -- stop smuggling, then protect people," the UNAA submission states.

"Australia, as one of the states parties to the Refugee Convention and its protocol, appears to have compromised its international obligations by adopting an approach that penalises asylum-seekers," it says.

The UNAA submission recommends that if the Gillard government were to be successful in reviving the four-year transfer arrangement with Malaysia, the policy should be subject to review after the first year to ensure the guarantees drafted into the arrangement were carried out.

In a separate submission, the Law Council of Australia notes "serious human-rights concerns" and concludes the Malaysia solution should not be pursued.

The submission from the Law Council says the range of international conventions by which Australia is bound are "insufficiently addressed" in the details of the arrangement.

"It is difficult to see how it could be in the best interests of an unaccompanied minor to be transferred to Malaysia," the Law Council says.