Canberra: The Australian government announced on Wednesday the reopening of a controversial detention centre on Christmas Island a day after it lost a vote on a bill to help evacuate critically ill refugees from offshore processing centres to get treatment in the country.
Tuesday’s development was a major blow to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s minority government’s highly controversial immigration policy. He says the law would weaken the nation’s tough border policies and embolden human traffickers. Opponents accuse him of spreading fear before an impending election.The bill facilitating medical evacuations of refugees on Manus and Nauru to Australia was approved on Tuesday in the Lower House and ratified by the Senate.Following that, the Prime Minister on Wednesday said that the government would re-open the Christmas Island centre “to deal with the prospect of arrivals… and transfers” – arguing both were now more likely, the BBC reported. Morrison said the reopening of Christmas island centre would strengthen the capacity of Operation Sovereign Borders. (IANS)
