Proposed changes to Australia's immigration laws could result in asylum seekers being sent back to war zones, a human rights lawyer warns.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has tabled a bill to tighten requirements for the protection of people not deemed refugees under the Migration Act, but who can't be returned to their home country because of the risk of harm.
"These provisions run the very real risk, if they pass into law, of seeing people sent back to extremely dangerous war zones," executive director of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, David Manne, told the ABC on Wednesday.
The Migration Amendment (Complementary Protection and Other Measures) Bill 2015 rules out protection to those who face a "generalised" risk, are able to change their behaviour and relocate to a safer part of their home country.
"These types of provisions are very hard to reconcile with the recent generosity and compassion seen in the humanitarian act of agreeing to take an additional 12,000 Syrian refugees," Mr Manne said.
The Senate's Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee is due to report on the bill early next year.
