Rejection Of Asylum-Swap Deal Increases Flow Of Boats, Inquiry Told

MELBOURNE, Dec 10 (Bernama) -- The rejection of Australia's asylum seeker swap plan with Malaysia will see an increased flow of boats, a parliamentary inquiry heard yesterday. The head of the Australian Immigration Department, Andrew Metcalfe told the inquiry it was difficult to predict how many were contemplating the journey but it was possible 3,600 more asylum seekers could arrive in the next six months. "I think we should expect a significant number of arrivals," Metcalfe is quoted by the Herald Sun as saying. The Age newspaper said the arrival of another boat with 52 people on Friday, the fourth this week, brings a total of 1,631 asylum seekers and crew who have arrived since the government announced in October that legislation to overturn a High Court ban could not pass Parliament because the opposition parties would not support it. Metcalfe said the large numbers of arrivals continued to place strain on the immigration detention network. There were 5,500 asylum seekers in detention as on Monday with numbers predicted to swell in coming weeks and beyond. There are about 1,300 asylum seekers on Christmas Island and a quarter of detainees are housed in the community. The Age newspaper reports Metcalfe as saying that the recent changes to government asylum seeker policy -- ending the discriminatory treatment of boat arrivals by allowing access to the Refugee Review Tribunal from next year, and the increased use of community release on bridging visas -- had been prompted by the High Court decision, which has "unwound the legislation" put in place in 2001 by the previous Howard government. Immigration Department Assistant Secretary Greg Kelly said the department had a two-week target to get detainees off Christmas Island and into mainland centres. Opposition leader Tony Abbott said it was a shift in government policy that was attracting more asylum seekers, adding that Australia's border protection system was in crisis. -- BERNAMA