Pell urges both sides to agree on offshore processing

AUSTRALIA'S senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell, has spoken in favour of offshore processing of asylum-seekers.

AUSTRALIA'S senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal George Pell, has spoken in favour of offshore processing of asylum-seekers, urging the government and opposition to work together to avert further deaths of boatpeople at sea.

In his first public comments in support of processing asylum-seekers outside Australia, Cardinal Pell said that an offshore regime may be the only viable way to prevent refugees from being exploited by human-trafficking syndicates.

"The people-smugglers are evil and irresponsible money-makers prepared to risk the destruction of their passengers. These deaths are a tragedy," Cardinal Pell told The Australian yesterday, reacting to the news that hundreds of people were missing at sea after a ship sank off the coast of Indonesia.

"It's difficult to see any alternative to the government and opposition promptly agreeing on effective offshore deterrents. Australians do not want more tragedies like this."

Cardinal Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, is known for his sympathy for refugees, condemning prime minister John Howard in 2001 over his "mean and excessively harsh" efforts to deter boat arrivals. "Many of us consider, for example, that the mandatory detention of asylum-seekers in hot, isolated places, apparently favoured at present by both sides of politics, is not a good or wise policy, especially for women and children," he said at the time.

Cardinal Pell's comments yesterday echo those of Anglican Primate Phillip Aspinall, who earlier this year, and again yesterday, backed offshore processing provided the asylum-seekers were treated humanely.

"As we prepare to gather with our families and friends to celebrate Christmas, it is hard for us to imagine the devastation and loss that will be felt by the many people personally affected by this tragedy," Dr Aspinall, the Archbishop of Brisbane, said in a statement yesterday.

"We need to adopt a bipartisan approach in order to achieve an equitable balance between demonstrating compassion towards asylum-seekers and discouraging the unscrupulous practice of people-smuggling.

"It is devastating that more lives have been lost as a direct result of the action of people-smugglers.

"To avoid such tragedies, more resources need to be applied to support the processing of asylum-seekers in their respective countries of origin. As a priority we need to treat those who arrive on our shores with human decency and in accordance with our international obligations.

"And as a secondary consideration we need, as a desirable refugee destination, to be instrumental in undermining the illegal and shameful business of people-smuggling.

"Assuming a proactive approach might include investing more effort and resources in methodically processing asylum-seekers in their own countries before lives are placed at risk by people-smugglers."