Migration Jurisprudence from the South › Australia
Plaintiff M70/2011 v. Minister for Immigration (Malaysia arrangement)
High Court of Australia · Australia · 2011-08-31 · National court
Citation: [2011] HCA 32
Type of case: Administrative
Outcome: Decided for the migrant side
Question
Could Australia send asylum seekers to Malaysia under a swap arrangement?
What the court decided
No. The Minister’s declaration was invalid because Malaysia was not legally bound to provide the protections the Migration Act required.
In plain language
Australia agreed to send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in exchange for refugees. The High Court said this was unlawful because Malaysia was not bound to protect them.
Dalam bahasa sederhana
Australia sepakat mengirim 800 pencari suaka ke Malaysia sebagai tukar dengan pengungsi. Pengadilan Tinggi menyatakan ini tidak sah karena Malaysia tidak terikat untuk melindungi mereka.
Pertanyaan: Bisakah Australia mengirim pencari suaka ke Malaysia lewat pengaturan pertukaran?
What happened afterwards
- 2011-07: Arrangement signed.
- 2011-08-31: Declaration held invalid.
Sources
Open this decision in the interactive collection (compare, filter, Indonesian view, downloads).
Cite as: Institute for Migrant Rights (2026), Migration Jurisprudence from the South, version 0.1, https://theimr.org/court-decisions/d/au-m70-2011/. This page summarizes a court decision for research and advocacy; it is not legal advice.