Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the Government’s new Australian Customs and Border Protection Service must treat compassionately and humanely people who arrive by boat to seek asylum in Australia.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the formation of the new agency today, a day after a boat of 35 suspected asylum seekers was intercepted off the Western Australian coast and escorted to Christmas Island for detention.

“What kind of service will this new agency be offering to those who need our assistance and protection?” asked Senator Hanson-Young.

“We cannot forget: it is not illegal to seek asylum. It is a right under international law.”

Senator Hanson-Young said that Australia must learn from the mistakes of its past immigration policies.

“We have an opportunity to move forward to a more humane, compassionate approach to the treatment of asylum seekers, and the opportunity to rebuild Australia’s international reputation,” she said.

“Let’s not allow ourselves to slide back to the dark days of the Howard and Ruddock immigration regime and all that it brought: Tampa, children overboard, the reprehensible tragedy of the SIEV-X and more than 200 cases of lawful residents being detained.

“The politics of fear must not cloud our actions on matters of human rights and justice.”

Senator Hanson-Young expressed concern at the detention on Christmas Island of those who recently arrived on boat.

“Christmas Island’s detention facilities should be closed, and we should do away with this ‘out-of-sight, out-of-mind’ attitude towards asylum seekers who arrive by boat.

“All processing of claims for asylum should be done promptly and fairly on the Australian mainland, where processes can be overseen and community support services can be more easily accessed.

“The Greens will be closely monitoring the progress of the detainees on Christmas Island.”