KUALA LUMPUR: A battle of words has seen relations between Malaysia and Australia increase this month over a potential refugee swap deal. Last week, the proposed agreement appeared to be on its way out after Australian opposition leaders said Malaysia was turning its back on refugees in a violation of human rights. The statements perturbed the government here, and led to a de facto stand-off between the two countries, but now it appears a refugee swap agreement could still come to fruition. One foreign ministry official told Bikyamasr.com on Monday that the leadership was “positive” on the official government statements coming from Australia. “We had been frustrated over what had been said and this was a concern in going forward, but Australia has been positive in recent days and this could get done,” the official said, but was not authorized to speak to the media. Australia, for its part, attempted to allay the antagonism from its local opposition, saying over the weekend it believed Malaysia was still looking to support the country's refugee swap deal. Under the Malaysia swap deal, 800 asylum seekers who arrive by boat will be sent to Malaysia and Australia will accept 4,000 genuine refugees in return. The Australian opposition has said it would not support the swap deal because Malaysia is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Refugees. Leading the anti-Malaysia charge is Tony Abbott, who said he would prefer boats be sent to Indonesia in exchange for offshore processing plant at Nauru, and not have Australia accept migrants. In Australia, the statements from Abbott are striking a chord with the country's immigrant population, who argue he simply wants to remain xenophobic and not allow new residents to enter the country. “It is obvious that Abbott is pushing against immigration because he doesn't want Muslims to enter Australia. It is obvious racism,” said Omar Makkaram, a Muslim of Pakistani origin, and social worker who has assisted in refugee integration into Australia. “If we were more open and honest about having people come to Australia it would be a lot better, but people are, for good reason, scared of the racism that exists here. Abbott is playing to these sentiments,” he told Bikyamasr.com from Darwin. Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr was quoted, however, by ABC Radio as saying he had discussed the asylum seeker situation with Malaysia, who still wants the deal to go ahead. Carr said the Malaysian government was not frustrated by the delays to the deal. “It was raised by me as one of the agenda items we touch on regularly,” he said. “They simply acknowledge they continue to support it. Everyone with a stake in the humanitarian argument about irregular maritime arrivals knows that you've got to have offshore processing if you are to break the business model of people smugglers. “Everyone agrees, except the (Australian) Opposition, that (the Malaysian solution) is the best option for offshore processing.”
