While the Australian government seeks to avoid its obligations under United Nations conventions against racial discrimination in regards to mandatory sentencing, it is trying to toughen the terms of another UN convention to further narrow the definition of "refugee".
The call is part of a concerted campaign by Western governments to restrict asylum seekers' access under the guise of international cooperation against "people smuggling".
Australian officials are even seeking the addition of anti-"people smuggling" clauses to a convention against the international trafficking of women for prostitution, presently being discussed by the UN Human Rights Commission.
While visiting London to meet with British home secretary Jack Straw, who is responsible for administering Britain's immigration laws, immigration minister Philip Ruddock said on March 21 that the refugee convention was open to abuse and allowed some asylum seekers to gain protection they are not be entitled to.
Ruddock pressed for greater support for the UN High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR) efforts to have refugees stay in the first country that they arrive in or to return to their home country, rather than seek refuge in a second country.
The minister was also concerned that asylum seekers refused protection under the refugee convention were pushing their cases under other conventions, including that dealing with torture.
Straw welcomed Ruddock's comments and said he supported a tightening of the refugee convention, claiming it was too broad for conditions in the 21st century.
Straw is seeking European Union agreement that those who travel across several European countries should not be able to claim asylum at their final destination because they have not "directly" fled persecution, as the convention definition states. He is also seeking EU agreement that only those fleeing persecution by the state be classified as refugees.
Britain is in the midst of an anti-refugee crackdown of its own. New laws took effect on April 3 which deny asylum seekers welfare while pursuing claims for protection, threaten asylum seekers caught begging with immediate deportation and force asylum seekers to shop with vouchers rather than cash.
Since the federal parliament's passing of the Border Protection Act, and related visa restrictions on asylum seekers, in November, Ruddock has travelled to more than half a dozen countries seeking agreement on measures against asylum seekers and "people smugglers".
Ruddock's efforts have been particularly directed at stemming Iraqi and Afghan refugees fleeing to Australia from refugee camps in the Middle East. Twelve hundred Iraqis and 1100 Afghans arrived in Australia seeking protection in 1999. Most of these qualify as refugees under the convention.
During a January visit to Jordan, Syria and Turkey, Ruddock emphasised the harsh penalties Australia applies against undocumented arrivals.
According to evidence given by Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs officials to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee on February 10, Ruddock also sought to open negotiations with these countries for "readmission agreements", under which asylum seekers who had come to Australia through these countries could be quickly sent back, with little or no judicial or administrative review.
A similar agreement was also sought when the minister visited Indonesia in February. One is already in place with China. Under that agreement, members of the ethnic Chinese Vietnamese community who arrive in Australia are speedily returned to China.
The minister and his officials have justified such agreements on the basis that these countries provide effective protection for the asylum seekers.
Such a claim was undermined by Iranian government moves to deport thousands of Afghan refugees on March 10. The deportees were rounded up in the suburbs of Tehran and then bussed into the Nimruz region of Afghanistan, which is not under Taliban control.
There are 1.4 million Afghan refugees in Iran, many living in squalid conditions in refugee camps such as Shahid Nasary outside Tehran, which Ruddock visited while in the country in January.
The Iranian government wants these refugees to leave its territory and signed an agreement with the UNHCR on February 22 which gives refugees without proper documents six months to come forward and either apply for return or make a case for staying in Iran. The agreement was not supposed to allow forced deportations.
Refugee advocates in Australia have condemned the government's plans to establish such a "white list" of countries to which asylum seekers could be summarily returned.
Amnesty International's refugee spokesperson Des Hogan said the deportations from Iran showed the injustice of Australian attempts to return Afghan or Iraqi asylum seekers.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government is considering expanding the definition of refugee to "people in need of protection". The proposal is in the draft of a new immigration law.
BY SEAN HEALY