Boat

Govt confirms 18 children on boat
AAP
The immigration department has confirmed there are 18 children among a boatload of asylum seekers who are due to be flown to Malaysia under the federal government's swap deal.

The department said it had checked the ages of all asylum seekers who had claimed to be minors and found one to actually be an adult, bringing the number of children to 18, including 13 who were unaccompanied.

"We have done checks on all the asylum seekers who have claimed to be minors," immigration department spokesman Sandi Logan told AAP.

"But what we will not be doing is a full age determination analysis as we would do where there were any doubts for someone seeking a visa as a refugee in Australia."

That's because the asylum seekers won't be processed in Australia but rather in Malaysia.

The first boatload of asylum seekers to be processed under the Gillard government's controversial deal with Kuala Lumpur arrived on Christmas island on Thursday. They are due to be sent to Malaysia within days.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen earlier told ABC Radio that of the people claiming to be minors some were clearly children and "others are people who say they're 17".

The 55 asylum seekers who arrived on Christmas Island on Thursday will be the first group sent to
Malaysia under Labor's swap deal, under which Australia will deport 800 people who arrive by boat in return for accepting 4000 processed refugees.

The United Nations' children's agency says it is extremely concerned that unaccompanied minors may be deported from Christmas Island.

"We note that it will be a case-by-case basis and we absolutely depend upon the minister to make the right decision in these instances," UNICEF Australia chief executive Norman Gillespie told ABC Radio.

"It's a trauma to come to Australia in this manner, and it's an even greater trauma to then be deported."
Lawyers are worried Mr Bowen could send children to Malaysia despite his position as the legal guardian of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.

Australian Lawyers Alliance president Greg Barns says if children are deported Labor would be breaching its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

"Sending unaccompanied children to a third country such as Malaysia is clearly not something that can be said to be consistent with protection from harm," he said in a statement.

"It is unconscionable."
Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said Mr Bowen had a conflict of interest being both the minister making decisions on deportation and the children's guardian.

"He needs to hand over the guardianship of these children if he fails to act in their best interest," she told ABC Radio.

Mr Bowen maintained on Friday there'd be no blanket exemptions.

"I will not have the situation where we provide a reward for people who put their children on a boat and undertake that dangerous journey," he told ABC Radio.

"It is not morally acceptable."

The immigration minister refused to be drawn on reports that two flights to Malaysia have been booked for Tuesday, except to say: "We're working towards a transfer as soon as possible."

Acting Opposition Leader Julie Bishop slammed Labor's swap deal as "a truly awful piece of public policy".