Australian PM pressures Malaysia on people-smuggling

Australian PM pressures Malaysia on people-smuggling

SYDNEY (AFP) - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was Monday to pressure Malaysia over people-smuggling with thousands of illegal immigrants hit by wars and the global slump reportedly headed to Australia.

Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith were to make a rare joint call on Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak during a flying visit en route to Germany and the 17-nation Major Economies Forum (MEF) in Italy.

"Malaysia is an important economic partner of Australia, an important security partner and important for us also in combating the real problem of people-smuggling," Rudd told reporters.

"I'll only be on the ground for a few hours but it struck me as a great opportunity to spend a few hours on some practical questions given that people-smuggling is a real challenge for us, the Indonesians, the Malaysians and all countries within the region," he added.

Illegal immigration is a hot political issue in Australia, which has long grappled with the arrival of boatloads of refugees prepared to make the risky voyage from areas hit by conflict and economic hardship.

Australia's navy last month stopped a boat off the northwest coast carrying 194 asylum-seekers, the biggest number in eight years and raising this year's total to 825, compared to just 179 for the whole of 2008.

Local media say that up to 10,000 immigrants from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Iraq are massing in Malaysia for passage to Australia by people-smugglers.

The developments forced Rudd, under fire for relaxing the tough stance of his predecessor John Howard, to defend his policy as "hardline and sensible."

"What we see worldwide is a large increase in the number of illegal people movements right around Asia and beyond," he said on Monday.

"Therefore the active cooperation between ourselves and regional governments on security, on intelligence, on border control is really important."

Foreign Minister Smith, who arrived in Malaysia separately ahead of Rudd's evening visit, acknowledged the joint visit was "unusual" but said it showed traditionally fraught relations with Malaysia were improving.

"It is unusual because normally the practice of Australia is that the prime minister and the foreign minister essentially travel separately," Smith told the Nine Network on Sunday.

"We'll of course also be having very serious conversations with the Malaysians about our joint efforts against people-smuggling," he added.

Rudd last year rolled back Howard's policy, under which many refugees were locked up for years in detention camps, and introduced mandatory six-monthly case reviews in a bid to speed up processing.

On Monday, the conservative opposition repeated its calls for a stronger stance, claiming Rudd's move was encouraging refugees.

"Kevin Rudd having a cup of coffee with people in Malaysia is not going to be having the people-smugglers sitting up there in Southeast Asia quaking in their boots," Liberal Party frontbencher Scott Morrison told Sky News.

Rudd will also meet Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and press Pope Benedict XVI to canonise an Australian nun during his five-day trip, as well as attending the MEF meeting on July 9.