Australia's government plans to post video on YouTube and Facebook of the first group of asylum seekers sent to Malaysia under a pact between the countries to swap refugees, in an attempt to deter asylum seekers from taking dangerous boat journeys to Australia.
Releasing the video of the asylum seekers at Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, boarding a plane, and arriving in Malaysia will help raise awareness of Australia's new policy, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has said. Malaysia and Australia recently agreed to swap asylum seekers in a new strategy aimed at stemming the flow of refugee hopefuls from countries such as Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq who typically fly to Indonesia and then continue to Australia by sea on board cramped, rickety boats.
Asylum seekers' faces will be pixelated in the video to help protect their privacy.
