President of Afghan AustralianAssociation of Victoria Abdul Khaliq Fazal thinks Malaysia is not a solution to people smuggling.
By Sasha Petrova
THE Afghan community has slammed the Federal Government’s proposed Malaysia Solution.
The president of the Afghan Australian Association of Victoria Abdul Khaliq Fazal said the government wasn’t clear on their objective on how to stop people smugglers.
“This is not the cure for the problem we are facing,” Mr Fazal said.
Speaking from his office in Dandenong, the suburb that hosts the largest population of Afghanis living in Melbourne, Mr Fazal went on to say that the government had not given the proposal “enough thought”.
Under the proposed plan 800 new boat arrivals would be shipped to Malaysia for processing as a swap for the 4000 “genuine refugees” that Australia would take from Malaysia.
Federal Bruce MP Alan Griffin said the Labor Government was confident that this was the best way to deter people smugglers.
“This agreement with Malaysia takes away the product people smugglers are trying to sell – a ticket to Australia,” Mr Griffin said.
“With no guarantee they will end up in Australia, people are less likely to risk the perilous journey by boat.”
But Mr Fazal said that those seeking to flee Afghanistan by boat would not be informed about their real destination when they fled for Australia.
“Smugglers will not pass on these messages. We have to inform people, ‘You will not be living in Australia, you will be sent to Malaysia. Don’t take that risk.’”
According to an Australian Parliamentary Library Report, people from Afghanistan account for the bulk of boat arrivals in Australia.
Dandenong shopowner Tahir Daryabi is one such arrival who spent two months in a boat in 1999 when he fled Afghanistan.
For him, fleeing by boat was the only option available.
“No way to come from there. If I go to the UN, they won’t care,” Mr Daryabi said.
Mr Fazal thinks Australia should make it easier for people to seek asylum using legitimate channels.
“The people are taking the extreme way of coming to Australia.” Mr Fazal said.
Asylum seekers would not seek to escape their country by boat “if people have the choice of applying through the right channels”.
Mr Fazal, who served as a senior adviser to Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, was well aware of the instability in his country, but he cautioned against the boat option as a way of immigrating.
“I am personally against people coming by boat. Many have lost their lives. Most of those who arrived by boat would not advise their relatives to come by boat,” he said.
Mr Daryabi also had a strong stance on the issue. “Again, if I was in Afghanistan, I would die there than come by boat,” he said.
