Mainland Australia excised from migration zone, but critics are unimpressed

The Federal parliament has excised the Australian mainland from the migration zone in an attempt ot deter the arrival of asylum seekers - a move that has angered the UNHCR.

Prior to the changes, asylum seekers who successfully reached the mainland by boat could not be sent offshore to Nauru or Papua New Guinea for processing.

The bill was supported by the Opposition, who said it was almost identical to legislation put forward by them in 2006. However, others, such as the Greens, Amnesty International, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, have criticised the change. 

"It is going to cost people's lives and damage people who are already suffering from such harm, this is a bad piece of legislation, an immoral piece of legislation," said Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. "[It is] not looking at why people are seeking asylum in the first place what is driving them to leave their countries. Deterrence has not and will not work." 

Proposed amendments put forward by the Greens to allow for Human Rights Commission inspections, media access, and the removal of children from the Manus Island centre, all failed to pass.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has warned that the change does not relieve Australia of its responsibilities under the 1951 international treaty covering handling of asylum.

"UNHCR's position has always been for all asylum seekers arriving into Australian territory, by whatever means, and wherever, to be given access to a full and efficient refugee status determination process in Australia," said Volker Turk, head of international protection.

Amnesty International refugee campaigner Graeme McGregor has called the policy "inhumane, ineffective and expensive," saying that it "ignores Australia's responsibilities to people who need our protection."

Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs has warned that transferring asylum seekers to a third country may be in breach of their human rights. She has said that the policy discriminates against vulnerable people and unfairly penalises them for the means by which they arrive in Australia.

The amendment was one of 25 recommendations put forward last year by the expert panel on asylum seekers.

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