Ban Ki Moon has urged Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to reconsider Operation Sovereign Borders.
In a meeting on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Mr Ban raised the issue of refugee resettlement with the Mr Turnbull.
"The Secretary-General also raised the refugee and migrant issue in the Asia Pacific region. Noting Australia’s longstanding commitment to refugee resettlement, the Secretary-General appealed to the Prime Minister to share responsibilities," a statement read.
“The Secretary-General expressed concern over the detention conditions in Australia’s offshore processing centres and encouraged the Prime Minister to reconsider “Operation Sovereign Borders."
But when asked by Senator Sarah Hanson-Young whether the government will listen to the Mr Ban’s proposal, Attorney-General George Brandis said they had “no intention” of reconsidering its policy.
“And there’s a reason we won’t, because the policy has been successful,” Mr Brandis said during question time on Monday.
“And as a result of that policy… we have stopped the people smuggling trade, we have stopped the penetration of Australia’s maritime borders by people smugglers. We have saved countless lives.”
Climate change
During his opening remarks to the ASEAN group Mr Ban also called on the leaders to make climate change a priority.
“There can be no sustainable development without climate action,” he said, “now the world has a chance to steer towards a low-carbon, climate resilient future.”
“The Secretary-General expressed concern over the detention conditions in Australia’s offshore processing centres and encouraged the Prime Minister to reconsider “Operation Sovereign Borders."
Mr Ban said the Paris meeting must provide a long term vision.
“The Paris Climate Change Conference has already generated enormous momentum. More than 166 countries, including a majority of those in South East Asia, have submitted national climate plans. Their targets would keep temperature rise to 3 degrees Celsius,” he said.
Mr Turnbull has been criticised by some for adopting the former Abbott Government’s targets.
He told reporters during the APEC Summit in Manila earlier in the week that there would be no changes to the government’s policy before the meeting.
He said, ”in terms of climate change, on which many speakers have addressed us, including Mr Barack Obama, Australia is committed to an outcome… we are taking a substantial emissions cut target and it is one which represents on a per capita basis, a 50 per cent cut in emissions by 2020.”
He continued, it’s “a substantial figure, I think, second only to Brazil.”
During the bilateral meeting the United Nations Secretary-General also praised Australia’s efforts in continuing the fight for justice for those onboard the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 and in the search for missing flight MH370.
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