Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has directly linked the drowning of up to 27 asylum seekers yesterday with the collapse of the Malaysia refugee swap deal, and hit out at the Greens for making the "extraordinary" call to create safer pathways for refugees to come to Australia after the tragedy.

Mr Bowen said the Malaysia deal was designed to do "exactly" that, "creating safer pathways, increasing the humanitarian intake, taking more people out of places like Malaysia".

Boat tragedy ... a survivor carries a child. Credit:AFP

"For Senator [Sarah] Hanson-Young to say we need to create more safe pathways when her party, and she in particular, have been remorseless in opposing the Malaysia arrangement ... I just found breathtaking and extraordinary," Mr Bowen told ABC Radio today.

Senator Hanson-Young had urged the government to consider increasing its annual humanitarian intake.