Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister confirm that these asylum seekers are of the Rohingya ethnic minority? Does the minister acknowledge that the Burmese government has an appalling human rights record, particularly in relation to the Rohingya minority? Is the minister aware that Rohingyas in Burma are denied citizenship; they cannot travel without permission; their land has been confiscated and given to other ethnic groups; they have been subjected to slave labour; and many have been beaten, jailed and persecuted by the Burmese authorities? Is the minister also aware that the Malaysian government deported more than 20 Rohingya Burmese refugees to Burma last year? Why, for the first time in 4½ years, is the minister proposing to send these Burmese asylum seekers from the Rohingya minority to Nauru?