Australia's new government, making its second big policy shift in just a week in power, began yesterday to scrap a controversial scheme which sent refugees to remote foreign islands for processing.
The move came exactly a week after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol on climate change in his first official act after ousting former prime minster John Howard's conservative government in federal elections.
The initial step in dismantling the "Pacific Solution" would be to grant refugee status to seven men from Myanmar held on the island of Nauru for more than a year, Immigration Minister Chris Evans told national radio.
"I'm hopeful that those Burmese will be returned in the next week or two in time for Christmas," he said. "There's no reason why they shouldn't be processed quickly. In fact in my view they should have been processed some time ago, but we're keen to resolve their issues."
The refugees from Myanmar would be settled in Brisbane, Queensland, Evans said.
The government also hoped to quickly resolve the asylum claims of about 80 Sri Lankans held on Nauru, he said.
Nauru, a tiny and impoverished nation paid by Australia to house detainees, became a focus of global attention in 2001 when a boatload of Afghan refugees was offloaded there.
The Nauru detention center hit worldwide headlines again in early 2004 when a number of detainees staged a hunger strike and sewed up their lips in protest at their incarceration.
Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre spokesman David Manne, who represented the Myanmar refugees, said they were delighted by the news that they would be granted asylum.
"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," he said.
Under the "Pacific Solution," boatpeople arriving in Australian waters were sent to detention centers on Nauru or Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, sometimes languishing there for years.
Taiwan moved clear of Mexico to be the only country at No. 2 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Baseball World Rankings. Meanwhile, draft bills to set up a ministry of sports were approved at a joint session at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. After previously being tied with Mexico for second on 4,118 points, Taiwan moved clear on 5,498 points after they defeated Japan in the final of the WBSC Premier12 tournament on Sunday. Mexico (4,729) dropped to fourth, behind Venezuela (4,846), who finished fourth at the tournament. Taiwan narrowed the gap to first-placed Japan to 1,368 points from 1,638, WBSC
GLOBAL SUPPORT: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the motion highlighted the improper exclusion of Taiwan from international discussion and cooperative mechanisms Taiwan yesterday thanked the British parliament for passing a motion stating that UN Resolution 2758 does not involve Taiwan, making it the latest body to reject China’s interpretation of the resolution. The House of Commons on Thursday debated the international status of Taiwan and unanimously passed a pro-Taiwan motion stating that the House “notes that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the political status of Taiwan or establish PRC [People’s Republic of China] sovereignty over Taiwan and is silent both on the status of Taiwan in the UN and on Taiwanese participation in UN agencies.” British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Parliamentary
HIGH ALERT: The armed forces are watching for a potential military drill by China in response to the president’s trip, with the air force yesterday conducting an exercise President William Lai (賴清德) is to make stopovers in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam during his seven-day trip to the South Pacific, his first official visit since taking office in May, the Presidential Office said yesterday. Lai, accompanied by a delegation, is scheduled to depart for the South Pacific on a chartered flight at 4:30pm tomorrow, stopping first in Hawaii for a two-night layover before traveling to the Marshall Islands, an office official said. After wrapping up his visits to the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, the president is to transit through Guam, spending a night there before flying to Palau,
‘IMPORTANCE OF PEACE’: President Lai was welcomed by AIT Managing Director Ingrid Larson, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and others President William Lai (賴清德) was feted with red carpets, garlands of flowers and “alohas” as he began his two-day stopover in Hawaii on Saturday, part of a Pacific tour. Looking relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, Lai flitted around the US island state, visiting the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Hawaii’s leading museum of natural history and native Hawaiian culture, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Lai was given the “red carpet treatment” on the tarmac of Honolulu’s international airport, his office said, adding that it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such
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