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| Down Under |
| Australia prepared to to repel asylum seekers |
| 2006-04-08 |
| Federal Minister for Customs and Justice Senator Chris Ellison says the Federal Government has the power to force boats carrying Papuan asylum seekers back to Indonesia. After the Tampa affair in 2001, the Navy forced several boats carrying Middle Eastern asylum seekers back to Indonesian waters. Speaking on ABC Radio National's The National Interest, Senator Ellison said the Government's policy has not changed. He says circumstances would determine whether the Government would consider forcing boats, carrying Papuans, back to Indonesia. "It will depend on the circumstances in which we intercept these people, but certainly they will be dealt with as we would deal with any other attempts at illegal entrance into Australia," he said. "We've put in place measures for dealing with people who try to enter our country illegally and you've seen what we've done in the past and our policy has not changed." No breach Australia is a signatory to the International Convention on Refugees, but Senator Ellison rejects claims that the policy of forcing a refugee back to a place of persecution is a breach of international law. "The international law that we're upholding is our sovereignty in that we're maintaining our borders," he said. "As the Minister for Customs and Justice, I have responsibility for border control, and that is to safeguard our borders against illegal fishing, illegal entrance, security risks and anything else which might pose a risk to this country including quarantine. "When we're faced with a boatload of people, they don't come with a sign saying, 'These Are Refugees'. When we're presented with that situation on the water, we don't know who they are; we don't know their background. "They might say they're refugees, they might say they're all sorts of things but I have to tell you that we're primarily charged with looking out for Australia's sovereignty and security and that means that we intercept people who are trying to enter this country illegally and that could involve a number of measures which would be determined at the time by authorities who are engaging in the process of looking after our borders." The full interview with Senator Ellison will be broadcast on The National Interest at midday on Sunday on ABC Radio National. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #1 I doubt they will force West Papuans back to sea. A lot of people who are hardline on immigration like me, have considerable sympathy for these people, because they are getting F&&ked over by the Javanese who run Indonesia. Incidentally, my wife is going on business to Papua New Guinea in a couple of weeks time and I'm trying to swing a trip. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-04-08 05:58 |