Fed: Churches and refugee groups welcome ALP policy

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Fed: Churches and refugee groups welcome ALP policy

Labor's long awaited immigration policy has been met with guarded support from churchesand refugee advocacy groups.

The Uniting Church, the Catholic Commission for Justice, Development and Refugees andA Just Australia have welcomed the opposition plan as an improvement on the government'streatment of asylum seekers.

But concerns remain about the length of time allowed for mandatory detention, as wellas the excision of Christmas Island from the migration zone and the retention of TemporaryProtection Visas.

In its proposed policy, Labor's pledged a cap of 90 days for mandatory detention for90 per cent of asylum seekers.

And it plans to keep Christmas Island as a migration exclusion zone, which means asylumseekers landing on the island cannot lodge refugee applications.

AAP RTV sm/sw/rk/wjf

KEYWORD: BOAT REACTION (CANBERRA)