Australians voted out their Neocon government only to get even worse one.

Both children of their new prime minister are married to foreigners. I do worry that major reason for that is that they hate their fellow Australians.

CANBERRA, Australia: [b] Australia's widely criticized system that forced asylum seekers to live in detention camps on South Pacific islands is being dismantled, the new government said Monday.

The government also hinted that it may scrap a refugee exchange deal with the United States that was aimed at deterring asylum seekers from attempting to reach either country.

The new government was elected on Nov. 24 following campaign pledges to abandon the former government's six-year-old policy of refusing to allow refugees to reach Australian shores by boat.

The Immigration Department announced Sunday that seven Myanmar refugees who have been held on the tiny island nation of Nauru for more than a year will be resettled in Australia, subject to final health and security checks.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Monday the resettlement was the first step in dismantling the previous government's policy that kept some refugees in offshore camps for several years.

"They should have been processed some time ago, but we're keen to resolve their issues," Evans told the ABC, adding that the seven would arrive in the east coast city of Brisbane within two weeks.

He said the government hoped to quickly resolve the claims of 82 Sri Lankans who are also being held on Nauru.

David Manne, from the Refugee and Immigration Legal Center which has been representing the Myanmar men, told the ABC, "They were very happy, extremely relieved about the news and really looking forward to being able to rebuild their lives and to make a real contribution in the future in Australia."

Since 2001, such asylum seekers have been held at Australia's expense in detention camps in Nauru or Papua New Guinea where they do not have access to Australia's legal system. Australia has attempted to send those who prove to be genuine refugees to other countries.

A minority have been settled in Australia after no other country would accept them.

But Australia and the United States announced a refugee trading deal in April as an added deterrent to asylum seekers.

The two countries agreed to swap up to 400 refugees a year rather than allow them to achieve their goal of living in the country they attempted to reach. But no such swaps have yet occurred.

Only refugees held by Australia on Nauru and by the United States at its military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are eligible.

But Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard suggested that the swapping facility would never be used.

"We have consistently said that we think Australia should deal with its own case load" of asylum seekers, Gillard told reporters in Canberra on Monday when asked whether her government would scrap the swap deal.
Terms of Use
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/ ... e-Swap.php