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SYDNEY — Australia’s highest court ruled out government plans to ship asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, to Malaysia as part of a refugee-swap deal, saying the program would violate the nation’s laws and its international commitments.
The government said it had hoped to set a public example by relocating up to 800 migrants arriving by boat over the next four years, saying that adding obstacles to their quest for legal status and protections as refugees would discourage human trafficking. But activists denounced the plan as too punishing.
The court, ruling 6-1, focused on Malaysia being unable to offer guarantees for their safety and well-being required by Australian law.
