S
Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDE
Guest
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070315/wl_asia_afp/australiasrilankaimmigra
tion
Australia to send Sri Lankan asylum seekers to remote island
Thu Mar 15, 12:03 AM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia will send 83 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to the
Pacific island of Nauru, the government said Thursday, in an extension of
the controversial "Pacific Solution" for unwanted migrants.
The move against the boatpeople intercepted off Australia's Christmas
Island last month would send a strong message to prospective illegal
immigrants and people smugglers, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews told
reporters.
"The government is committed to a strong border protection policy and we
are also committed to sending the strongest possible message of
deterrence to people who would engage in the dangerous and unlawful
activity of people smuggling," he said.
"Our message to them and anyone else who would consider doing this is
that we will process them in a way which doesn't involve entry into
mainland Australia."
The 83 Sri Lankan men were taken to a detention centre on Christmas
Island after being intercepted by the Australian navy on February 21 and
will be flown thousands of kilometres (miles) to Nauru by charter plane.
The Nauru system, under which Australia pays the tiny and impoverished
nation to keep the refugees in detention, became the focus of global
attention in 2001 when a boatload of Afghan refugees was offloaded there.
Last September, Australia sent seven Myanmar asylum seekers to Nauru as
it reactivated the centre, which had stood empty for some months after
its last occupant, an Iraqi, went to Australia for medical treatment.
Refugee rights groups said sending the latest group to Nauru would
prohibit them from applying for protection in Australia.
Earlier this month charges of people smuggling were laid against two
Indonesian men who were on the boat with the Sri Lankans.
tion
Australia to send Sri Lankan asylum seekers to remote island
Thu Mar 15, 12:03 AM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia will send 83 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to the
Pacific island of Nauru, the government said Thursday, in an extension of
the controversial "Pacific Solution" for unwanted migrants.
The move against the boatpeople intercepted off Australia's Christmas
Island last month would send a strong message to prospective illegal
immigrants and people smugglers, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews told
reporters.
"The government is committed to a strong border protection policy and we
are also committed to sending the strongest possible message of
deterrence to people who would engage in the dangerous and unlawful
activity of people smuggling," he said.
"Our message to them and anyone else who would consider doing this is
that we will process them in a way which doesn't involve entry into
mainland Australia."
The 83 Sri Lankan men were taken to a detention centre on Christmas
Island after being intercepted by the Australian navy on February 21 and
will be flown thousands of kilometres (miles) to Nauru by charter plane.
The Nauru system, under which Australia pays the tiny and impoverished
nation to keep the refugees in detention, became the focus of global
attention in 2001 when a boatload of Afghan refugees was offloaded there.
Last September, Australia sent seven Myanmar asylum seekers to Nauru as
it reactivated the centre, which had stood empty for some months after
its last occupant, an Iraqi, went to Australia for medical treatment.
Refugee rights groups said sending the latest group to Nauru would
prohibit them from applying for protection in Australia.
Earlier this month charges of people smuggling were laid against two
Indonesian men who were on the boat with the Sri Lankans.
