John Menadue

John Menadue is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Pearls and Irritations. He was formerly Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Ambassador to Japan, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and CEO of Qantas.

John's recent articles

Evan Williams. The Lady in the Van. Film Review

Alec Guinness is remembered for playing seven different roles in the classic English comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets. In Nicholas Hytners film, The Lady in the Van, Maggie Smith goes one better. At different times shes a crazy old woman, a street beggar, a nun, a belligerent suburban mischief-maker, a well-to-do motorist, an incarcerated lunatic, a kindly old biddy and an aspiring concert pianist all embodied in the person of Mary Shepherd, the films formidable central character. Its an acting tour de force for which Dame Maggie has received awards and much critical acclaim. It seems a pity to...

Sam Bateman. Defence White Paper and the China threat.

Australias flawed position on the South China Sea Australias 2016 Defence White Paper says a lot about the South China Sea, both directly and indirectly. It expresses concern about land reclamation and construction activities by claimants in the sea and about the possible use of artificial structures for military purpose. It also makes much of the importance of a rules-based global order to Australias security, with a clear message that some countries are not following these rules. While the White Paper does not name China, thats how most commentators and China itself have interpreted these statements. As...

Richard Woolcott. The burning question - should Australia do more on the South China Sea?

My clear response is 'No!' China, as a major trading nation, now has the same rights as the US to protect its maritime and air approaches to its mainland. Australia should avoid provocative statements and actions at sea or in the air. When we talk about the need to support 'a rules-based global order', we overlook the fact that this order was framed mainly by the US after World War II. The world has changed greatly over the last 50 years and rising countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Brazil will want to be involved...

Kishore Mahbubani. The China threat! What happens when China becomes number one?

In considering the Defence White paper, it is important as Hugh White has pointed out, that we consider carefully the growing power of China and its determination to be accepted as a strong regional and global power. In this article (reposted from 27 April 2015) by Kishore Mahbubani, he describes the likely consequences of China becoming the 'number one' regional and possibly world power in the decades ahead. Our Defence White paper discounts the significance of growing Chinese power and the need to accommodate it. John Menadue   ALBERT H. GORDON LECTURE BY DEAN KISHORE MAHBUBANI[1] AT THE...

John Menadue. The Defence White Paper and the China threat The Thucydides trap - do not allow yourself to be manipulated into war.

Very senior Turnbull ministers talk of the 'Thucydides trap', the risk that countries allow themselves to be manipulated into war. Could they be referring to the risk of Japan drawing us, together with the US and China, into war. If ministers were seriously worried about this prospect it didn't seem to influence the Defence White Paper which clearly aligns Australia with Japan and the US against China. I have reposted below an article from 6 May last year on the risk of the 'Thucydides trap'. Neither Athens nor Sparta sought war, but war came because of pressure from a third...

Carol Richards, Bree Devin. Supermarkets and food waste.

In this blog on 25 February, I noted that the French parliament has voted to ban large food stores from throwing food away. In the story below, Carol Richards and Bree Devin highlight the way powerful supermarkets in Australia push the cost of food waste onto suppliers and charities. John Menadue At a time when one billion people globally experience hunger, as much as 50% of all food produced - up to two billion metric tonnes - is thrown away every year. In Australia alone, as much as 44 million tonnes of food is wasted annually. Last year,...

Rosemary Breen. Living Water Myanmar

Five years ago, when I started this project of building large water tanks to collect water during the rainy season in the Dry Zone of Central Myanmar I had no idea how many lives would be changed because of this simple concept. To date 114 water tanks have been built for villages and schools due to the generosity of so many donors in Australia, the USA and the UK. As the Australian coordinator, I have given talks and shown a Powerpoint presentation to many groups in order to raise funds, while Saya Toe, the coordinator in Myanmar, organises the...

Merriden Varrall. The Chinese elephant in AustraliaJapan relations

Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop visited Tokyo, where she outlined an increasing emphasis on security cooperation between Japan and Australia. The next day she was in Beijing, where she reportedly received a frosty reception. The two are not unrelated Beijing is not thrilled about Australias growing security ties with Japan. Because Australia is concerned about Chinas increasing assertiveness in the region, but at the same time benefits from China economically, we find ourselves in somewhat of a foreign policy pickle. In this very complex situation, it is critical that Australian policymakers respond with both immediate and long-term...

John Menadue. Japanese royal family resists war revisionism.

After WWII many people, including me, believed that Emperor Hirohito should bear considerable blame for his complicity in Japans wars of the 1930s in China and in the Pacific in the 1940s. There is no doubt that the late Emperor Hirohito was traumatized, as was his nation, by the disasters of WWII. But perhaps that experience of war is the reason why Emperor Hirohito, his son the current Emperor Akihito and his grandson, Crown Prince Naruhito are standing as firm bulwarks against the revisionist tide of history in Japan. I have written many earlier articles about this and...

David Isaacs. As bad as Guantanamo

If I liken the immigration detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island to the US facility on Guantanamo Bay, even passionate advocates for those seeking asylum such as human rights lawyer Julian Burnside dismiss my concerns: Oh were not as bad as that. I will argue that we are indeed as bad as that, possibly worse. Many people fleeing persecution to seek asylum have been subjected to psychological trauma in the countries they are fleeing and in the often highly traumatic journeys they take to reach freedom. However, people seeking asylum who are subjected to prolonged immigration detention are...

What has gone wrong with Malcolm Turnbull's NBN?

In a column in The Drum on the ABC, Paddy Manning comments that 'Malcolm Turnbull's version of the NBN is proving to be much more expensive to deliver than was originally hoped. Remember that the only merit of Turnbull's multi-technology mix (MTM) was that it would be cheaper to build ...' See link to article below: http://ab.co/1Sef8pS

Evan Williams. Oscars and other frivolities

My vote for best performance by an actor in this years Oscars goes to Leonardo DiCaprio not for his much-touted appearance in The Revenant, but for his rousing speech at the presentation ceremony. I dont know if he scripted it himself if he did he deserved a screenplay Oscar as well but I rate it the most powerful contribution to the climate debate delivered from a public platform in recent memory. His passionate plea to save the planet drew cheers from the crowd. Yes, I know showbiz luvvies tend to be self-indulgent lefties and climate alarmists, but...

Building Australias white elephant cheap buy for white knight Telstra

Tony Abbott gave Malcolm Turnbull instructions to undermine the NBN. As Minister for Communications it is apparent that that is what Turnbull did. As Prime Minister he could have reversed the damage to NBN. But he chose not to. In the following blog published by Paul Budde, he points out that both Infrastructure Australia and PwC express major concerns about the value of the investment in the NBN if at some time in the future the Australian government decides to sell it. See comments by Paul Budde below. John Menadue.   Both Infrastructure Australia and PriceWaterhouseCoopers...

Jeffrey Knapp. Big four accounting firms avoid scrutiny in multinational tax avoidance.

The Senate Inquiry into corporate tax avoidance is due to hand down its final report by April. One of the lesser-mentioned groups appearing before 2015s Senate hearings are Australias big four accounting firms. Multinational companies like Apple, Chevron, Google, Microsoft, and News Corp have dominated headlines, but little has been said of the role of PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY. After all, it is the big four firms that audit the accounts of leading multinational companies and render assistance with their taxation affairs. The big four firms claim they are supporters of transparency because it is fundamental to...

Kerry Goulston. Postcard from Vietnam. Health and medical cooperation with Vietnamese doctors and nurses.

In 1998, Dr Phillip Yuile visited Professor Ton That Bach, Rector of Ha Noi Medical University, with a letter of introduction from Professor Kerry Goulston, Associate Dean of Medicine at the University of Sydney who had been appointed by the then Dean,Professor John Young,to explore possible links between the two universities. Subsequently Professor Ton That Bach invited Professor Goulston to Ha Noi to discuss a collaborative association between Sydney University and Ha Noi Medical University which had been established by the French in 1902.. Professor Ton That Bach was highly respected by colleagues and beloved by his students, all...

John Menadue. Canada's response puts us to shame.

In this blog on 4 February, I mentioned the failure of the Australian government to adequately respond to the Syrian refugee crisis. I pointed out that at that time only ten refugees had arrived from Syria out of a promised intake of 12,000. I mentioned three factors for this delay. The first was political will. The second was the failure of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection which has become focused on control and border protection at the expense of settlement. The third was the inordinate delays resulting from ASIO security checks. The Canadian government has just announced...

Evan Williams. Film review Spotlight

Evan Williams recently reviewed Spotlight. This film has now won the Best Film at the recent Oscars. This review is reposted below. Evan Williams will soon also write on the Oscar awards in general. John Menadue. The other night I watched a DVD of Foreign Correspondent, Alfred Hitchcocks wonderful thriller about a newspaperman on the trail of a secret spy ring. Nostalgic as I am for the glory days of print journalism, I love the moment when the papers editor yells from his desk: Hold the front page! You dont hear that any more. Films about newspapers those...

David Armstrong. A journalistic career from Tharunka to Bangkok.

David Armstrong has had a remarkable career as a journalist. From Tharunka at the University of NSW . His career includes The Bulletin, The Australian, South China Morning Post, and now business and semi-retirement in Bangkok. In an interview with American writer, Kevin Cummings, David Armstrong speaks of his travels and career. See following link:   http://peoplethingsliterature.com/2016/01/25/david-armstrong-interview-5-decades-in-four-questions/

Renee Bittoun. Postcard from Hanoi. Smoking in Vietnam

Unlike Australia today where the prevalence of smoking is about 15%, Vietnam remains a country where smoking is widespread. About 60% of the men smoke and about 5% of women. The burden of diseases related to smoking is therefore extremely high. On visiting a Hanoi hospital respiratory ward last week, most of the 100s of inpatients were patients with acute exacerbations of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), and visiting the cancer hospital also showed that most of the cancers were also smoking related. There are efforts to reduce uptake of smoking however there is little supporting funding. My role...

Will Steffen. CSIRO and climate change: Making policy based on myths

The recently announced cuts to CSIRO climate science have stunned the Australian research community and sent shockwaves through the international climate research system. Claims and counter-claims are flying around the media, the cybersphere, Senate estimates, and elsewhere. To cut through the claims that are being made in support of the CSIROs leadership to gut the Organizations climate research capacity, a good round of myth-busting is required. Myth One: The science is settled and now we need to get on with the job of mitigation. The science is settled comment has been completely misrepresented by Larry Marshall, the...

The benefits of migration.

In this article in fivebooks.com, Ian Goldin speaks about the benefits of migration although those economic benefits are often widely and differently dispersed. He points to the disconnect between the benefits of immigration and often the political downsides where some communities feel disadvantaged. He notes that the business community often calls for more migrants and refugees when politicians are moving in the opposite direction. Ian Goldin is Professor Globalisation and Development and Director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. See link below: http://fivebooks.com/interview/immigration/

John Menadue. Our humanitarian program.

Some issues have no place in partisan politics, they may be topics that are politically charged, but they are not ideological battlegrounds they are about the personal and the human. Our stance on refugees and on protection is such an issue. It is an area that has been supported by the left and the right, and in darker moments, disowned by both. It is an issue that is deeply tied to our national psyche and yet heavily influenced by the words of our national leaders. Our treatment of refugees has revealed the best in us and defined some of...

Measuring the misery of those forced to flee.

Robert Shiller, a 2013 Nobel Laureate in Economics says 'Under today's haphazard and archaic asylum rules, refugees must take enormous risks to reach safety and the costs and benefits of helping them are distributed capriciously . It does not have to be this way. Economists can help by testing which international rules and institutions are needed to reform an inefficient and often inhumane system.' For link to article in AFR, see below: http://www.afr.com/opinion/measuring-the-misery-of-those-forced-to-flee-20160126-gme8ch

Which country has the world's best healthcare system?

On 9 February, the Guardian published a report on health systems around the world. It drew particularly on analysis of ratings by the Commonwealth Fund and its correspondents around the world. The UK's national health service was ranked number one in the world. Australia was ranked number four. For Guardian article, see link below: http://gu.com/p/4f6vb/sbl

Business can take lead on refugees to end 'execution by indifference'.

In this article, Tony Shepherd, former President of the Business Council of Australia, urges Australia to be more generous in helping asylum seekers from Syria. He says: 'As I stare out the window on the plane ride home (from the refugee camps in the Middle East) I think that if history has taught us nothing else, it is that generosity is always rewarded. Our nation, Australia, was built by immigration; it has been the secret of our success. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the nations that chose to open their hearts and invest in new people, over...

John Menadue. Wasting food in France is now illegal.

The Australian edition of Huffington Post carried a very encouraging story on 4 February this year that it is now illegal for supermarkets in France to waste food. Both Chambers of the French Parliament have unanimously voted to ban large foodstores from throwing food away. Supermarkets must either compost or donate unsold and nearly expired goods to charity. The law also prohibits stores from pouring bleach over food items to prevent homeless people from foraging. Schools across the country must begin to educate students to overcome food waste. Another law which went into effect on New Years...

Mark Gregory. Stone-walling on a second rate NBN network.

In responding to questions at the Senate Estimates hearing held on 9 February 2016, NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow admitted he did not know the number of nodes being built during the Fibre to the Node (FTTN) rollout and he went on to say that any information about what is being rolled out by NBN Co would be commercial-in-confidence, meaning that he would very selectively answer questions put to him by Senators. By the end of the session, Morrow had answered very few questions. The purpose of Senate Estimates hearings is to examine the operations of government relating to...

Michael D. Breen. Freedom to Mock.

Tim Minchins Come home Cardinal Pell nails it for many in Oz. Minchin voices the rage, the frustration and the suffering of unrequited victims, their relatives, and Church goers and observers. Rage boils when people feel unheard. It becomes incandescent over unfairness. It sizzles when one class triumphs over another. The song flashes the spotlight on the dark places were abuse happened initially or where cover up merchants operated. The song is composed. Also composed is the Statement from the Catholic Communications Office February 17th. The past few days has (sic) seen a great deal of incorrect...

John Menadue. Making the Federation work better.

The Abbott Government decided that over the next decade commencing in 2017 the Commonwealth Government would reduce grants to the states for education and health by $80 b. This is likely to produce a major and concerted campaign by the states to protect their hospitals and schools. It does provide an opportunity for more effective cooperation between the Commonwealth and the States in the health sector. I have reproduced below an article on this subject which was posted in May last year as part of the policy series co-edited with Michael Keating. I argue for the establishment of a joint...

Evan Williams. Film review. 'Trumbo' (M)

Everyone remembers Psycho, in which Anthony Perkins played a knife-wielding weirdo obsessed with his dead mother, and most of us remember Rambo, in which Sylvester Stallone played a super-patriot action-hero fighting for truth, justice and the American way. We all know about Romeo, and some of us will remember Dumbo, Disneys animated baby elephant with the big ears. But Trumbo? Hes not exactly a household name, and unless youre something of a film buff you may never have heard of him. Trumbo is the hero of Trumbo, a wholly absorbing film from Hollywood director Jay Roach. For the record,...

Peter Gibilisco. Neoliberalism and its Perceptions

Politics has changed so much over the years; our political climate is unstable, since 2007 we have had five different prime ministers. A person in my position would ask how does this affect people with severe physical disabilities? Neoliberalism has its aim to put into question all collective structures capable of obstructing the logic of the pure market. Such a belief allows one to question the ideology behind the welfare state, progressive taxation and other social policies that can lead to an egalitarian society. Their ideology harvests the sentiment that many welfare recipients are lazy and should do more...

John Nieuwenhuysen. Multiculturalism Today and the Little Evil

According to the ABS, the proportion of Australians born overseas has reached its highest point in 120 years. At about 6.6 million people, the overseas born represent 28 per cent of the countrys total, and, since 2005, migration has contributed half of total population growth. Some 47 per cent of Australians in 2015 were either born overseas or have parents who were. The diversity of Australias population has also increased, and the days of White Australia are long since gone. The traditional major country sources of immigration remain Britain and New Zealand, which represent 20.8 and 9.1 per cent...

What's holding back the world economy.

In this article from The Guardian, Joseph Stiglitz points to the slow growth rates in the developed world and the reasons for them. He says that 'In the US, quantitative easing did not boost consumption and investment partly because most of additional liquidity returned to central banks' coffers in the form of excess reserves. ... It appears that the flood of liquidity has disproportionately gone toward creating financial wealth and inflating asset bubbles rather than strengthening the real economy. ... The risk of another financial crisis cannot be ignored. ... [We must] begin with re-writing the rules of the market...

Murdoch takes Abbott as his guest to President's banquet in US.

According to a report on Media Watch on 8 February, Rupert Murdoch brought Tony Abbott as his guest at a banquet in Washington which President Obama attended. Several of the Murdoch papers in Australia suggested that this was a personal meeting between Tony Abbott and President Obama. It was nothing of the sort. It was a cocktail party and lunch attended by 100 guests and presumably President Obama shook Tony Abbott's hand, but it seems it was nothing more than that. It says something about Murdoch's political judgement that he took an ex prime minister to this lunch....

Trevor Boucher. Tax principles and negative gearing.

I just wish that current comment about negative gearing would pay some attention to tax principles. Tax principles? Yes, they do exist. A person who negatively gears a rental property has two objectives in mind: getting a rental return and reaping a capital gain on disposal. The interest paid out is in pursuit of both objectives but the difficulty of apportioning it to each of those objectives means that the whole of the interest is charged against income, even income from other sources. The excess interest over rents received could by legislation be quarantined to future rental...

Jonathan Page. The Inspiration of Vietnam

Postcard from Hanoi: I have been an oncologist for some 35 years, treating adults with advanced cancer. Despite a far greater understanding of the disease, with the discovery of quite remarkable targeted therapies, most patients still die of this disease. Many are not suitable for these treatments, many dont respond or respond poorly and briefly, and of course many simply present very late in the course of the cancer. As an oncologist I am thus confronted by uncertainty, sadness, despair and grief on a regular basis, as are all the members of the oncology team, but at times...

John Menadue. Postcards from Hanoi.

I will be in Hanoi from February 17-26, attending a Hoc Mai Foundation workshop on learning from each other about health issues in Vietnam and Australia, and assisting in the learning of English in the health field. Hoc Mai means 'forever learning'. The foundation was established in the late 1990s. University of Sydney was a very active partner. Over 30 groups of Australian clinicians and others interested in Vietnam have travelled to Vietnam since the late 1990s. 29 Australians will be in our group in Hanoi. Emeritus Professor Kerry Goulston will be leading our group. He has made...

Robert Manne. Why we have failed to address climate change.

In this article, published in the December The Monthly Essays, Robert Manne describes the major obstacles to addressing climate change. He refers to the unique nature of climate change and the difficulties that it has presented for scientists to persuade the world community about the problem and the need to take action. Robert Manne also refers to the difficulty that just at the time when concerted government action is necessary, the public debate from Liberal economists pointed to the need to scale back government. The post WWII consensus associated with Keynes and Bretton Woods was under challenge. The...

John Menadue. Hoist with their own petard

Private health insurance funds like NIB are complaining about high specialist fees. But these very same funds are major contributors to the problem. And it is a problem. In the last 30 years we have seen a dramatic increase in specialist fees. A major contributor to this increase in specialist fees is the gap insurance that private health insurance firms offer. Gap insurance effectively underwrites specialists ability to increase fees and weakens Medicares ability to cap fees. In the AFR today, NIB gives two examples of how this is done. For prostatectomy (surgical removal of prostate) the Medicare Benefit...

John Menadue. Regional cooperation on refugees, Bali and a Track II Dialogue.

I attended a Track II Dialogue in Bangkok recently to try to help develop a framework of shared responsibility to manage in a humane and efficient manner, displaced people movements in the region. There is concern that the Track I Regional Dialogue at government level has not been particularly fruitful. So much of the response to asylum seekers, refugees and displaced people in the region has been ad hoc, fragmented and political. The Track II Dialogue included a range of government officials in their private capacities, refugee experts, international agencies and people from think-tanks. The Dialogue was initiated...

John Menadue. Part 2. How we deliver healthcare is as important as the funding of healthcare. Medicare has degenerated into a payments system.

In Part 1 I focussed on the importance of improving the delivery of health care and not just funding. In Part 2 I will focus on specific areas where costs should be reduced.   Part 2 Getting costs down The government should abolish the subsidy for private health insurance which costs all up about $11 billion p.a. This welfare subsidy is one of the fastest growing areas of Commonwealth government health expenditure. We have never had high income welfare recipients on such a scale before .PHI is the Damocles sword hanging over our health system. PHI...

John Menadue. Privatising Medicares payments system and the erosion of Commonwealth Public Service capability.

The government has apparently accepted the advice of the Commission of Audit that Medicares payments system should be reviewed with the possibility of privatisation. The payments system includes Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Aged Care Services and Veterans Affairs. It sounds like another expression of neo liberalism, that only the private sector can be efficient and cost-effective.Let us see whether that is so through market testing. I remain sceptical. As a regular user of Medicare services and payments, I am not aware of problems in the payments system. But if there are problems, the government should fix them.....

John Menadue. Part 1. How we deliver health care is as important as the funding of health care. Medicare has degenerated into a payments system

Part 1 of these articles will focus on the inefficient way we deliver health care, the many perverse incentives and the power of vested interests to resist reform in health care delivery. Part 2 will focus more particularly on examples of waste and inefficiency in health care delivery Part 1 We have been told many times that our health system is unsustainable. To justify its case for an increase in the GST, the government was telling us that an increase was necessary because of rising costs in health and education. Now the GST is apparently off the table...

John Thompson. Fiona Nash and private health insurance for rural Australians

A few nights ago on Q&A, the Minister for Rural Health, Fiona Nash, undertook to drop out of private health insurance while she was in office. Ms Nash lives in Crowther, a small town about midway between Wagga Wagga and Bathurst. Foregoing private health insurance makes a lot of sense for her because, like most rural and regional people, she pays a large amount to private insurers and has very limited access to private hospitals and related private services in her area. The map above shows why rural people are especially short changed with the private health system. The...

Jim Bowler. Mungo Man needs help to come home

Its time for funds and a plan to preserve and commemorate this visitor from Ancient Australia, writesJim Bowler, the geologist who discovered Mungo Mans remains. Forty-two years ago, on 26 February 1974, I first encountered the remains of Mungo Man eroding out of the desiccated shores of Lake Mungo. He had been ritually buried over 40,000 years earlier at a time when the lake was full by an ancient community that thrived in the fertile environment. The re-emergence of Mungo Man has changed the way we understand Australian history. Together with the earlier (1969) discovery of...

The Pope is not the only one who doesn't get it.

This is an extract from Robert Mickens' 'Letter from Rome' of 10 February 2016, published in Global Pulse. In the full article, Mickens refers to the extraordinary success and acceptance of Pope Francis in so many areas. There is however a downside. Mickens coments: But there is a dense cloud hanging over all the good this prophetic priest and bishop has done for the Church. It is a pall that is casting an ever darkening shadow on his otherwise energizing pontificate. The black spot is how can one put it? the popes seemingly ambivalent attitude and...

David Isaacs. Secrets and lies and bad morality: Australias policy on people seeking asylum

The latest episode in the long, sorry saga of how badly we can treat people seeking asylum was played out in the High Court in February 2016. Long because the story started in 1992 when the Paul Keating Labor government introduced mandatory detention as a temporary measure in reaction to a handful of people arriving in leaky boats from Cambodia. And I use the term people seeking asylum advisedly, because the term asylum seekers dehumanises the people and has been shown to cause Australians to switch off. The High Court found it is legal for the Government to send babies...

Ravi. Poems from detention.

My pen and paper I walk a deep sadness path with my loneliness. This emptiness makes me slow. I fall to my knees and cry out loudly. Tears knock silently at my eyes. I cant find anyone to share my pain with so I make friends with my pen and paper. I share with them all my pain. They cry with me. The paper becomes wet with their tears. Ravi   Feelings of Loneliness I am alone very alone. And this is what alone is: To be nothing To have nothing To hurt...

John Menadue. The collapse of the Malaysian Arrangement has led to the depravity of Manus and Nauru.

Having done its best in Opposition to wreck the Malaysian Arrangement in 2011, the Turnbull government is now seeking the help of Malaysia over detainees in Manus and Nauru. For political cynicism, this is hard to beat. In May 2011, the Australian and Malaysian governments announced an in principle arrangement that up to 800 boat arrivals would be transferred from Australia to Malaysia for their asylum claims to be heard. In response Australia would be prepared to accept 4,000 refugees from Malaysia. The arrangement with Malaysia was signed on 25 July 2011. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees gave...

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