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A boatload of 89 asylum-seekers has been intercepted off the coast of
northern Australia, a day after the Australian government announced
that boatpeople will no longer be resettled in the country.Tony Burke, the immigration minister, said on Saturday that the group - "entirely or almost entirely" Iranians - would be offered the choice of either pressing ahead with an asylum claim and being sent to Papua New Guinea, or transfer to another country.
Earlier, a protest at an Australian-run immigration detention camp in Nauru turned violent, with some of the asylum seekers injured, officials and witnesses said.
Buildings were torched as hundreds of asylum-seekers escaped detention during riots at the refugee facility, witnesses said on Saturday.
The riots on Friday night saw detainees take control of the immigration processing centre on the remote Pacific island of Nauru and arm themselves with knives and steel bars.
As of midnight Australia's immigration department said all the asylum-seekers had been accounted for and order had been restored.
An immigration spokeswoman said that most of the major buildings including the accommodation blocks, medical centre, dining hall and offices had been destroyed during the protest, which involved about 150 detainees.
Four detainees had been hospitalised with minor injuries and no staff were hurt, she added.
Locals support Locals support police
Nearly half of the facility's 545 asylum-seekers escaped and a number of buildings were set alight, according to local photographer Clint Deidenang.
"Today was history. The biggest riot ever to be staged on Nauru soil. The most violence I've seen. Amazing support from local(s) to the police," Deidenang told AFP.
The asylum-seekers abandoned their four-hour protest after a huge group of locals descended on the centre armed with pipes and machetes to help authorities contain the violence in response to a government call for assistance, he added.
"The ringleaders apprehended at the site will be questioned by police about allegations of property damage, destruction of property and riotous behaviour," she said.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hopes the hardline plan will boost his fortunes in an election year by stemming the flow of boat arrivals, which have exceeded 15,000 so far this year.
http://www.aljazeera.com
20/7/13
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Refugees not welcome: Australians protest crackdown on asylum seekers...
ReplyDeleteRallies have taken place all across Australia to protest the recently announced crackdown on immigrants. The decision was met with a violent riot at one of Australia’s offshore refugee processing camps, where hundreds of detained asylum seekers escaped.
An estimated 1,000 people in Sydney, 600 in Melbourne as well as smaller crowds in Canberra and Perth took to the streets on Saturday to protest the new hardline immigration policy, announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd one day prior.
Rudd’s message was “if you come by boat you will never permanently live in Australia.” The “boatpeople” will be transferred to detention facilities in Papua New Guinea and later settled there if their refugee bid is approved. The two countries have struck an asylum deal, regulating the procedure.
Protesters argue Papua New Guinea is not able to cope with the 20,000 refugees expected to land on its soil as it can hardly handle the 200 asylum seekers currently accommodated on Manus Island, where many are regularly sent to Australia for medical treatment they can’t get in the Oceanic state. ....http://rt.com/news/australia-refugees-protests-guinea-358/
20/7/13
Australien verschärft Flüchtlingspolitik..."Wir können sie nicht unterstützen"....
ReplyDeleteIst es richtig, Bootsflüchtlinge nach Papua-Neuguinea abzuschieben? Die Verschärfung der Flüchtlingspolitik trifft in Australien auf Zustimmung, aber auch Ablehnung. Im armen Papua-Neuguinea überwiegt hingegen klar die Skepis.
Die Verschärfung der Flüchtlingspolitik spaltet Australien. In Brisbane fanden Demonstrationen gegen die strikte Flüchtlingspolitik des neuen Labor-Premiers Kevin Rudd statt. Dagegen gab es in Sydney Zustimmung zur überraschenden Ankündigung, ab jetzt alle neu ankommenden Bootsflüchtlinge nach Papua-Neuguinea zu bringen.
"Das ist eine sehr gute Idee, aber ich denke, wir können noch viel mehr tun", sagte ein Mann in Sydney, der sich als Rudd-Wähler zu erkennen gibt. Sein Nachbar beurteilt die Entscheidung des Premiers, der sich von der restriktiven Flüchtlingspolitik mehr Wählerzuspruch verspricht, etwas differenzierter: "Ich bin da gespalten. Ich denke, wir sollten mit dem Problem selber klar kommen und es nicht in andere Länder exportieren. Aber gleichzeitig musste auch etwas geschehen."
Arme Flüchtlinge, teure Schleuser
Ungefähr 15.000 Bootsflüchtlinge sind bisher in diesem Jahr auf altersschwachen Kähnen an Australiens Küste gelandet. Es sind häufig Asylsuchende aus Iran, Irak und Sri Lanka, die in der Regel die teure Hilfe von indonesischen Schleusern in Anspruch nehmen. Zusammen mit der Ankündigung, keine Bootsflüchtlinge mehr nach Australien zu lassen, hat Rudd daher auch hohe Belohnungen für die Ergreifung von Menschenschmugglern ausgesetzt......http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/australien-fluechtlinge102.html
22/7/13
Το θέμα των προσφύγων κυριαρχεί και στις σφυγμομετρήσεις ...
ReplyDeleteΗ απόφαση της κυβέρνησης Ραντ την περασμένη Παρασκευή να κλείσει τα σύνορα της χώρας στα άτομα που φτάνουν εδώ με σαπιοκάραβα αναζητώντας πολιτικό άσυλο, συνέβαλε βελτίωση της αξιοπιστίας του Εργατικού Κόμματος στην αντιμετώπιση του προβλήματος των προσφύγων.
Σύμφωνα με τη τελευταία σφυγμομέτρηση που διεξήγε ο οργανισμός Newspoll, αμέσως μετά την ανακοίνωση της συμφωνίας μεταξύ της αυστραλιανής κυβέρνησης και της κυβέρνησης της Παπούα-Νέας Γουινέας, το ποσοστό των ψηφοφόρων που στηρίζουν τη κυβερνητική πολιτική στην αντιμετώπιση του προβλήματος των προσφύγων αυξήθηκε κατά έξι ποσοστιαίες μονάδες.
Πιο συγκεκριμένα, στην ερώτηση ποιο κόμμα θεωρείτε ικανότερο να αντιμετωπίσει πιο αποτελεσματικά το πρόβλημα των προσφύγων, το Εργατικό Κόμμα έλαβε το 26% των ψήφων σε σχέση με 20% που είχε λάβει στην ίδια ερώτηση τον περασμένο Φεβρουάριο, ενώ κατά 14 ποσοστιαίες μονάδες μειώθηκε η δύναμη του ο Συνασπισμού, ο οποίος τον περασμένο Φεβρουάριο είχε λάβει το 47%των ψήφων και το περασμένο Σαββατοκύριακο μόνο 33%.
Στο μεταξύ, αν και δεν έχουν περάσει παρά λίγες μόνο μέρες από τη δραματική απόφαση της ομοσπονδιακής κυβέρνησης να στέλνει όλους τους πρόσφυγες που φτάνουν με σαπιοκάραβα στην Παπούα-Νέα Γουινέα, αυξάνεται ο αριθμός των ανθρώπων που αμφισβητούν κατά πόσο η πιο πάνω απόφαση μπορεί και πρακτικά να υλοποιηθεί.
Η ίδια η κυβέρνηση παραδέχθηκε ότι περάσουν αρκετοί μήνες μέχρι να αναγερθούν οι απαραίτητες εγκαταστάσεις που θα στεγάσουν τους πρόσφυγες που θα στέλνονται εκεί, ενώ θα απαιτηθεί και να εύλογο χρονικό διάστημα μέχρι τα νέα μέτρα να αρχίζουν να αποδίδουν.
Αξιωματούχοι του υπουργείου Μετανάστευσης πιστεύουν ότι οι λαθρέμποροι που οργανώνουν τη μετάβαση των προσφύγων με πλοιάρια στην Αυστραλία θα προσπαθήσουν το επόμενο χρονικό διάστημα να τεστάρουν τις αντοχές της κυβέρνησης και των νέων μέτρων συνεχίζοντας να στέλνουν σαπιοκάραβα με πρόσφυγες.
Από την περασμένη Παρασκευή που ανακοινώθηκαν τα νέα σκληρά μέτρα έχουν φτάσει στο Κρίστμας Άιλαντ τρία πλοιάρια από την Ινδονησία με 210 πρόσφυγες, ενώ ένα ακόμα έχει εντοπιστεί από την αυστραλιανή ακτοφυλακή κοντά στο νησάκι Cocos.
Παράλληλα, στην ίδια σφυγμομέτρησε που διενήργησε ο οργανισμός Newspoll για λογαριασμό της εφημερίδας «The Australian», η εκλογική δύναμη του Εργατικού Κόμματος μειώθηκε κατά μία ποσοστιαία μονάδα σε σταυρούς πρώτης προτίμησης, συγκεντρώνοντας το 37 των ψήφων σε σχέση με 38 τοις εκατό που είχε συγκεντρώσει πριν δύο εβδομάδες.
Από την άλλη πλευρά, η δύναμη των κομμάτων του Συνασπισμού, που ηγείται ο Τόνι Άμποτ, αυξήθηκε κατά 3 ποσοστιαίες μονάδες φτάνοντας το 45% σε σχέση με 42% που είχε λάβει πριν ένα δεκαπενθήμερο.
Μειωμένη κατά 3 ποσοστιαίες μονάδες είναι και η εκλογική δύναμη του κόμματος των Πράσινων που έλαβαν 8 τοις εκατό, από 11% που είχαν λάβει πριν δύο βδομάδες.
Μετά την καταμέτρηση και των σταυρών δεύτερης προτίμησης το Εργατικό Κόμμα λαμβάνει το 48% των ψήφων και ο Συνασπισμός το 52%.
Τέλος σε μια άλλη σφυγμομέτρηση που διεξήγαγε την περασμένη Πέμπτη ο οργανισμός ReachTEL για λογαριασμό της γνωστής οικολογικής οργάνωσης World Wildlife Fund το 41,4% των ερωτηθέντων τάχθηκαν υπέρ τις κατάργησης του φόρου ρύπανσης, ένα χρόνο νωρίτερα από τον προγραμματισμένο, ενώ το 33,4% εναντίον.
http://neoskosmos.com/news/el/node/33081
25/7/13
Australia resolute on asylum policy...
ReplyDeleteAustralian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Sunday said he made "absolutely no apology" for his hardline new policy on asylum-seekers under which they are sent to Papua New Guinea.
SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Sunday said he made "absolutely no apology" for his hardline new policy on asylum-seekers under which they are sent to Papua New Guinea.
Under the directive, those who pay people-smugglers to arrive on unauthorised boats will be sent to the Pacific nation for processing and resettled there even if found to be genuine refugees.
"On the question of asylum-seekers... we've had to adjust our policy over time and I make absolutely no apology whatsoever for our current policy settings because the world around us has changed," Rudd told Channel Ten.
Rudd, who was last month reinstalled as prime minister by his Labor colleagues to help turn around dire polls in an election year, had previously softened some of the former conservative government's policies.
But after being reappointed leader, he moved quickly to announce a radically reshaped immigration plan under which boatpeople could be resettled in PNG, sent home, or to a third country but not Australia.
The plan has worried the United Nations refugee agency which said Friday that conditions at Papua New Guinea's Manus Island facility currently failed to adequately protect refugees.
"UNHCR is troubled by the current absence of adequate protection standards and safeguards for asylum-seekers and refugees in Papua New Guinea," it said in its first assessment of the policy.
Australia resumed sending asylum-seekers to Manus Island and the Pacific state of Nauru in 2012 in a bid to deter record numbers of migrants arriving by boat, hundreds of whom drowned en route.
Rudd has said the new PNG policy will take some time to deter asylum-seekers, but since he announced the change just over a week ago more than 1,300 have arrived on boats.
"It is the implementation of that policy direction over time, resolutely, which will yield results," he told Network Ten's Bolt Report.
"In the interim, people smugglers will test your resolve."
Asylum-seekers are a sensitive issue in Australia, and one set to feature prominently in the election due this year.
Rudd said while people-smugglers, who make thousands of dollars bringing asylum-seekers to Australia, would test the government's resolve, "we are not for turning".
"Our policy is very clear... you will not be settled in Australia," Rudd said.
- AFP/xq
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/australia-resolute-on/758744.html
28/7/13
Australiens Asylsuchende sollen woanders leben...Flüchtlinge gegen Wirtschaftshilfe...
ReplyDeleteSelbst in Australien anerkannte Asylsuchende sollen dort künftig nicht mehr leben - sondern in Papua-Neuguinea und auf Nauru, die dafür Millionen erhalten. So sieht die Flüchtlingspolitik von Australiens Premier Rudd aus. Das Ziel: Flüchtlinge sollen keine Gelegenheit mehr erhalten, australischen Boden zu betreten.
Von Udo Schmidt, ARD-Hörfunkstudio Singapur
Der Südpazifikstaat Nauru wird von 9300 Menschen bewohnt. Nun, nach der Unterzeichnung eines Flüchtlingsabkommens mit Australien, werden wohl einige, einige tausend Einwohner hinzukommen: Bootsflüchtlinge, die von der nahe an Indonesien liegenden australischen Weihnachtsinsel direkt nach Nauru gebracht werden, nicht nur, wie schon bisher, für die Dauer ihres Asylverfahrens, sondern für immer, für eine dauerhafte Ansiedlung. Bei Australiens Premier Kevin Rudd klingt das so: "Das heißt, dass Menschen die nach einem sicheren Platz zum Leben suchen, diesen auf Nauru finden können."...http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/australien-fluechtlinge-nauru100.html
3/8/13
HRW: Australia's Refugee Policy Cruel ....
ReplyDeleteHuman Rights Watch has criticized what it calls Australia's "cruel" and "pernicious" attempts to deter asylum seekers, saying the policies are undermining its leadership role on human rights in Asia.
Under Australia's current policy, refugees seeking asylum are sent by boat to Papua New Guinea or Nauru, where they are held in detention centers described by some as inhumane.
The policy, which began under the previous Labor government, has been tightened under the more conservative administration of Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Currently, boats of asylum seekers are turned back by the military at sea.
In its annual world report, Human Rights Watch said "successive Australian governments have engaged in populist politics in 2013 at the expense of the rights of asylum seekers and refugees." It accused Australia's two major political parties of being "hell-bent on using cruel policies to deter asylum seekers, even at the expense of the country's reputation."
Hundreds of refugees have drowned in recent years trying to make the journey to Australian territory in flimsy boats. Many were fleeing unrest in South Asia and the Middle East. The Australian government maintains its policies are meant to discourage people smugglers from carrying out the unsafe journeys.
http://www.voanews.com/content/australia-refugee-policy-cruel-rights-group/1835025.html
22/1/14
Australia says no 'stepping back' from asylum policy....
DeleteAustralia said Friday that asylum-seeker arrivals had dropped to their lowest level in almost five years and there would be no "stepping back" from its hardline policy, despite tensions with Jakarta.
Canberra's military-run Operation Sovereign Borders policy, which sees asylum-seeker boats turned back when it is safe to do so, has angered Indonesia due to several incursions, despite an official apology.Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said that no would-be refugees had arrived in Australia by boat for 36 days -- the longest stretch without a vessel in almost five years."This is the longest period of no illegal boat arrivals since March of 2009," Morrison said in a statement.Under new Prime Minister Tony Abbott's punitive anti people-smuggling policy, asylum-seekers arriving by boat are sent to Pacific island camps for processing with no chance of settlement in Australia.Boats can also be turned back if intercepted at sea.Morrison said in the first 100 days of the operation, arrivals by boat had dropped by more than 80 percent."While these results were pleasing, arrivals of around 300 per month do not constitute success," Morrison said."Being able to sustain a zero rate of arrivals for more than five weeks takes us further, but these outcomes need to be sustained."This is not the time for stepping back, but to maintain the full pressure of our operations on criminal people smugglers, that are clearly getting results."Asylum-seekers arriving on unauthorised boats in Australia, often via Indonesia, are a sensitive issue for both sides, and Canberra's revelations of several incursions into Indonesian waters has angered in Jakarta.Indonesia has demanded Australia suspend its maritime asylum-seeker operations until they can be further clarified, and has also pledged to step up navy patrols in its southern maritime borders.Asked about the situation in Davos, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa described Australia's policy as "quite unhelpful"."I have said in the past that this can be a slippery slope. That's why we feel that it will be best if we all take stock of where we are just now and ensure that things don't get out of hand," he said in comments reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Morrison said Australia would continue to work with "any and all partners, especially within our region to defeat the people smugglers and to continue to keep them informed of our own efforts and activities".The minister also commended all Australian personnel involved in Operation Sovereign Borders for their "professional and dedicated efforts".The Australian navy has been accused of mistreating asylum-seekers onboard a vessel which was pushed back to Indonesia, allegations the government has rejected.The ABC has reported claims that 10 asylum-seekers had required medical treatment, including seven who had burns on their hands after being instructed to hold onto a hot pipe on their ship's engine.
Read more: http://indian.ruvr.ru/news/2014_01_24/Australia-asylum-policy/
24/1/14
Australia rejects claims that navy mistreated asylum seekers....
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - Australia on Wednesday rejected claims by a group of asylum seekers that they were beaten and suffered burns while being returned to Indonesia by the Australian navy under a policy that has strained ties between the neighbors.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday aired video of asylum seekers getting treatment for burns they said were caused by navy personnel forcing them to hold onto hot pipes coming out of the boat's engine while it was being towed back to Indonesian waters.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison lashed out at the media for reporting what he called "unsubstantiated allegations" and said that he would conduct no investigation into the incident as he accepted the word of navy personnel.
"The Australian government is not going to put up with people sledging the Australian navy," he told reporters in Sydney. "I've been given assurances about their conduct and I believe those assurances because I believe in those individuals."
Indonesian police confirmed that a group of asylum seekers had required treatment for severe burns on their hands after they were picked up in Indonesian waters on January 6.
"I received a report from police in Kupang that they said they were burned because they were forced to hold on to the boat engine," Agus Barnas, spokesman for the coordinating ministry of legal, political and security affairs, told Reuters.
"They said they were forced by the Australians. We are trying to find out more."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott's conservative government came to power last September partly because of its tough campaign against asylum seekers. It maintains offshore detention centers in the impoverished nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru that hold thousands of asylum seekers...........http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/22/us-australia-asylum-abuse-idUSBREA0L07N20140122?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
22/1/14
Australia PM blasts national broadcaster as unpatriotic....
ReplyDeleteSYDNEY: Prime Minister Tony Abbott launched a scathing attack on national broadcaster ABC on Wednesday, accusing it of taking "everyone's side but Australia's" in coverage of asylum-seekers and the Edward Snowden leaks.
His comments follow government criticism of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation late last year after it broke a story about Australian spying on Indonesia, which sparked a major diplomatic crisis.
More recently, the conservative leader has been unhappy with ABC's reports about asylum-seekers' claims they were tortured by the Australian navy during an operation at sea.
"It dismays Australians when the national broadcaster appears to take everyone's side but Australia's and I think it is a problem," Abbott told commercial radio station 2GB.
"You would like the national broadcaster to have a rigorous commitment to truth and at least some basic affection for the home team, so to speak," the prime minister said.
The ABC, together with Guardian Australia, late last year ran allegations in leaked documents from US intelligence fugitive Snowden that Australia had spied on Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife in 2009.
"The ABC seemed to delight in broadcasting allegations by a traitor, this gentleman Snowden," Abbott said.
"The ABC didn't just report what he said, they took the lead in advertising what he said. That was a deep concern."
ABC chief Mark Scott has defended the decision to reveal Australia's tapping of Yudhoyono's phone as in the public interest. The broadcaster had no immediate comment on Abbott's latest broadside.
The premier also hit out at reporting of asylum-seeker claims that Australian sailors forced them to hold hot engine parts, burning their hands, as part of the government's military-led operation to stem the flow of boatpeople.
"If there's credible evidence, the ABC, like all other news organisations is entitled to report it, but... you shouldn't leap to be critical of your own country," he said.
"You certainly ought to be prepared to give the Australian Navy and its hard-working personnel the benefit of the doubt."
The Navy has denied the allegations and the government has defended the military.
Asylum-seekers arriving on unauthorised boats in Australia, often via Indonesia, is a heated political issue and stopping them is a priority of the Abbott government.
Deputy Labor opposition leader Tanya Plibersek said Abbott should "stop complaining about media coverage and start behaving like a prime minister".
"From emergency broadcasts in times of trouble to coverage of the events that shape our nation, the ABC is there, free for all Australians," she said........http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/australia-pm-blasts/972320.html
29/1/14
Australia probes detention of asylum-seeker children...
ReplyDeleteSYDNEY: Australia's human rights watchdog launched an inquiry Monday into the detention of more than 1,000 children under punitive government policies that banish asylum-seekers arriving by boat to remote Pacific camps.
Gillian Triggs, president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, said the probe would examine the impact of mandatory detention on more than 1,000 asylum-seeker children being held in immigration facilities in Australia and more than 100 on far-flung Nauru.
"These are children that, among other things, have been denied freedom of movement, many of whom are spending important developmental years of their lives living behind wire in highly stressful environments," said Triggs.
The inquiry will examine whether Australia is in breach of international child protection obligations and measure progress on the issue over the past decade.
A similar investigation was held in 2004 into the then-government's "Pacific Solution" of detaining asylum-seekers arriving by boat on Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island -- a policy aimed at deterring dangerous people-smuggling journeys from Indonesia.
Hundreds of asylum-seekers have died attempting the voyage in recent years............http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/australia-probes/977642.html
3/2/14
Asylum seekers accuse Australia navy of abuse as boat towed to Indonesia...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - On New Year's day, 45 asylum seekers in a ramshackle wooden boat slid ashore on a small island off the Australian city of Darwin. Four others had been swept overboard that morning in rough seas and were believed dead.
The survivors, from Africa and the Middle East, stumbled onto the beach, thankful to find refuge on Australian soil. Or so they thought.
Within an hour, an Australian warship and other vessels arrived. Military personnel forced the asylum seekers back onto their wooden boat and towed it out to sea. Their destination: Indonesia.
Determining precisely what happened is difficult. But interviews with five of the passengers reconstructs a journey they say was marked by physical and verbal abuse.
Their accounts highlight just how far the newly elected conservative government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott is going to meet his election promise to "stop the boats" - a policy which involves towing vessels back to Indonesia, the main departure point for people-smuggling boats.
In a statement in response to questions on the accusations from the five asylum seekers, Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison said he did not give "credibility to malicious and unfounded slurs".
"I know and trust that our Navy and Customs and Border Protection Service act in accordance with their training and lawful orders and would only use force where necessary," he said. The navy refers all questions about the operations to Morrison's office.
About 16,000 asylum seekers came on 220 boats to Australia in the first seven months of last year. The government has said that since mid-December, not a single boat has arrived.
In separate interviews, the five asylum seekers all said their vessel landed on the island - raising questions about what Canberra means when it says no boats have arrived. One of the men said he had carried a Global Positioning System (GPS) device that showed Darwin was roughly 35 km (22 miles) away.
They also gave multiple accounts of military personnel using plastic zip ties and pepper spray to restrain asylum seekers. Passengers were denied proper access to food, water, medical treatment and toilets, they added...................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-australia-indonesia-asylum-idUSBREA1903F20140210?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
9/2/14
Australia asylum: One killed in violence at PNG camp....
ReplyDeleteOne asylum seeker has been killed and 77 injured during a second night of violence at Australia's immigration detention centre in Papua New Guinea.
The man died of head injuries on the way to hospital, Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said.
Thirteen people suffered serious injuries, including two who are being transferred to Australia for treatment, one with a gunshot wound.
He said the injuries occurred outside the camp, after the men broke out.
Australia sends asylum seekers arriving by boat for detention and processing in offshore camps in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific territory of Nauru.
Conditions in these camps have been strongly criticised by UN agencies and rights groups.
'Great risk'
The violence took place late on Monday night.
"This was a very dangerous situation where people decided to protest in a very violent way and to take themselves outside the centre and place themselves at great risk," Mr Morrison said.
Security outside the centre in Manus Island was the domain of the PNG police, he said.
"Those who are maintaining the safety of environment outside the centre need to use their powers and various accoutrements that they have available to them to restore order in the way that is provided for under PNG law," he said.
Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition, however, said detainees at Manus Island had told him that locals and PNG police entered the camp and attacked them, after a day of tensions.
"All the people that we have talked to, whether they are workers on the island or whether it's the detainees themselves, say they were attacked," he told the BBC.
Mr Morrison, the immigration minister, said he had been told that "PNG police did not enter the centre and that their activities related only to dealing with transferees who breached the external perimeter".
He urged people to treat "unsubstantiated reports that are put in the public domain" with caution, but said he could not confirm how the various injuries were incurred.
He called the death of the asylum seeker "a great tragedy"..............http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26236157
18/2/14
One person was killed and 77 injured overnight Monday during a second night of rioting at an Australian immigration detention centre on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island......
ReplyDeleteSeveral people were injured at the same facility on Sunday when 35 asylum-seekers broke out of the centre amid growing concern about their fate under the Australian government's hardline policies.
"The news of a death is a great tragedy," Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday.
"This is a tragedy but this was a very dangerous situation where people decided to protest in a very violent way and to take themselves outside the centre and place themselves at great risk."
Of the 77 injured, one is critical with a skull fracture, while another was shot in the buttock............http://www.france24.com/en/20140218-one-killed-australia-immigration-camp-riots/?f24_member_id=1034519283770&ns_campaign=nl_quot_en&ns_fee=0&ns_linkname=20140218_one_killed_australia_immigration_camp_riots&ns_mchannel=email_marketing&ns_source=NLQ_20140218
18/2/14
Australia offers asylum-seekers money to return home...
ReplyDeleteAustralia is offering asylum-seekers in its Pacific immigration camps up to $10,000 (US$9,400) if they voluntarily return to their home country, a report said on Saturday, prompting outrage from refugee campaigners.
SYDNEY: Australia is offering asylum-seekers in its Pacific immigration camps up to $10,000 (US$9,400) if they voluntarily return to their home country, a report said on Saturday, prompting outrage from refugee campaigners.
Fairfax Media reported that those returning to Lebanon from detention centres on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island and the tiny Pacific state of Nauru were offered the highest amount of $10,000.
Iranians and Sudanese were given $7,000 if they dropped bids for refugee status, Afghans $4,000 and those from Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar $3,300, the report in The Sydney Morning Herald said.
The Herald said under the previous Labor administration -- in office until last September -- the payments were much lower, ranging from $1,500 to $2,000.................http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/australia-offers-asylum/1187112.html
21/6/14
Australia sends 157 asylum seekers to Nauru detention center...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - Australia has sent 157 migrants, thought to be Sri Lankan asylum seekers, to a detention center on the Pacific island of Nauru after they declined an offer to speak with Indian officials about their refugee claims, the government said on Saturday.
As part of its hardline immigration policy designed to deter migrants attempting to enter Australia by boat, the government had struck a deal with India for it to take back any of its nationals among the group who set sail from the Indian state of Pondicherry in June seeking asylum.
All 157, including 50 children, had refused to meet with the Indian consular officials this week and had been transferred to the island of Nauru where they will be processed and either resettled or returned to Sri Lanka, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement.
“The Australian government created a rare opportunity with the government of India for many of the 157 people who were on that voyage from India, including up to 50 children, to go back to where they had been living in safety in India, where they have family and friends, rather than go to Nauru,” Morrison said.
Returning to India was now “no longer an option” for the migrants, Morrison said.
Australia uses offshore detention centres in Papua New Guinea and the tiny South Pacific Island nation of Nauru to process would-be refugees who arrive on boats. There are 1,127 people in detention on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island and 1,146 people in the facilities on Nauru, according to government data...................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/02/us-australia-refugees-idUSKBN0G203420140802?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
1/8/14
Campaigners Demand End to Australia’s Military-led Asylum Policy...
ReplyDeleteIt has been one year since the Australian government introduced the nation’s toughest border protection measures to stop a steady flow of asylum seekers arriving by sea. Operation Sovereign Borders, a military-led border security initiative, has been criticized by rights groups, who claim Australia is breaching its international refugee obligations.
When Australia’s conservative coalition won last year’s Australian federal election, incoming Prime Minister Tony Abbott promised that his government would stop asylum seekers reaching the country by boat.
Operation Sovereign Borders began in October 2013. The military was ordered to turn or tow migrant vessels away from Australia’s northern waters. The government called it an invaluable effort “to combat people smuggling and protect Australia’s borders.”
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said last month that the military had turned back a dozen boats. Morrison said he was "utterly convinced" that every asylum seeker was returned safely back to Indonesia, a popular transit point for migrants trying to reach Australia by sea.
Those that do make it to Australian territory are detained at offshore processing centers on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and on the tiny Pacific republic of Nauru. Officials say the strict policy is not only deterring asylum seekers, but is stopping them from risking their lives trying to reach Australia cross unpredictable seas.
However, rights groups say Operation Sovereign Borders is a “cruel” policy, and should be reviewed.
Hundreds of protestors have taken part in rallies against the policy across Australia..................http://www.voanews.com/content/campaigners-demand-end-to-australia-military-led-asylum-policy/2484223.html
15/10/14