Immigration to Australia

Australia extends reach of tough refugee policy

Agence France-PresseMay 16, 2013 05:15

Australia on Thursday extended tough refugee policies to any asylum-seeker who lands on its mainland, allowing them to be banished to remote Nauru or Papua New Guinea for detention. Until now, the government only had powers to send boatpeople for indefinite detention in the Pacific when they reached its remote offshore territories such as Christmas Island. The change, which was passed in parliament Thursday, strips away any advantage asylum-seekers get from reaching the mainland.

Australia sees asylum-seeker costs soar

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 14:16

Australia took aim at the sensitive election issue of people-smuggling in its budget Tuesday, with a review of its refugee tribunal system to lower visa rates and slow boat arrivals as costs soar. The budget showed the cost of Australia's offshore detention network -- with facilities on remote Christmas Island, Papua New Guinea and Nauru in the Pacific -- soaring to Aus$2.9 billion ($2.9 billion) in 2013/14, almost double previous estimates. Australia is struggling with a steady influx of boats from Indonesia and Sri Lanka, with arrivals topping a record 16,000 last year.

People smuggler faces extradition to Australia

Agence France-PresseMay 8, 2013 14:15

A prolific people smuggler wanted in Australia on a string of charges, who is suspected of arranging a boat in 2011 which sank killing 200 people on board, faced an extradition hearing in Indonesia on Wednesday. Sayeed Abbas Azad, a 30-year-old Afghan, was jailed in Indonesia -- a transit hub for asylum seekers heading to Australia -- for people smuggling and harbouring foreign nationals after being arrested in 2010.

Indonesian search for missing boat hampered

AsianetApril 15, 2013 17:34

An Indonesian official says search efforts for a boat that reportedly issued a distress call have been hampered by a lack of information pinpointing the vessel's location. National Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Didi Hamzar said Saturday that Australian authorities reported a boat carrying about 72 asylum seekers had signaled it was in trouble. Unclear coordinates combined with the Sunda Strait's vast area has made the search difficult. A spokeswoman from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it is not involved in search efforts.

58 Afghan refugees missing after boat sinks off Indonesia

AsianetApril 15, 2013 14:27

Some 58 Afghan refugees are still missing after the boat taking them to Australia sank in Indonesian waters, while 14 have been rescued by local fishermen, a rescue official said Saturday. The boat, which was believed to carry 72 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, sank in waters off Indonesia's Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands around Wednesday, Roghmali, spokesman of the Search and Rescue Agency of Bandung, West Java told Xinhua. Roghmali said the rescue team is still searching around the waters off the west of Java for survivors amid bad weather after 14 refugees we

Indonesia investigates report of asylum boat sinking

Agence France-PresseApril 12, 2013 07:46

Indonesia's search and rescue agency said Friday it was investigating a report from Australian authorities that an asylum seeker boat carrying scores of people may have sunk. "We received information there were 72 people on board, and that 14 have been rescued by fishermen" after the vessel sank in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands early Friday, said agency official Tatang Zaenudin.

Australian gov't to investigate asylum seeker boat arrival

AsianetApril 10, 2013 16:48

Australian government will investigate how a boat full of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka managed to make it to the West Australian port of Geraldton without being detected by border patrol authorities, Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said Wednesday.A boat carrying more than 60 asylum seekers has arrived in the port city of Geraldton in the Mid West region of Western Australia, local media reported Tuesday.Geraldton is the usual destination of asylum seekers heading for Australia, located 2,240 kilometers south of an offshore detention center for asylum seekers in Christmas I

Australia probes how asylum boat reached mainland

Agence France-PresseApril 9, 2013 23:45

Australia ordered an investigation Wednesday into how an asylum-seeker boat managed to reach one of the country's busiest ports undetected and warned those on board may be flown back home. The rickety vessel carrying 66 Sri Lankans was spotted Tuesday within the harbour limits of Geraldton in Western Australia, 425 kilometres (260 miles) north of Perth. The state's Premier Colin Barnett called it "a serious, unprecedented and unacceptable breach of Australia's border security" -- the first such boat to reach the Australian mainland in five years.

Asylum-seeker boat reaches Australian mainland

Agence France-PresseApril 9, 2013 04:16

A fishing boat packed with 66 asylum-seekers evaded detection in a "shocking" breach of border security to arrive at a busy port on the Australian mainland Tuesday, officials said. The vessel was spotted within the harbour limits of Geraldton in Western Australia, more than 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) south of Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island where asylum-seekers are usually intercepted.

Asylum-seeker boat reaches Australian mainland

Agence France-PresseApril 9, 2013 03:15

A boat packed with 66 asylum-seekers managed to evade detection by border patrols and arrived at a port on the Australian mainland Tuesday, officials said. The boat was spotted within the harbour limits of Geraldton in Western Australia, more than 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) south of Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island where asylum-seekers are usually intercepted. "Customs and Border Protection have advised a suspected irregular entry vessel arrived within the harbour limits of Geraldton this afternoon," Home Affairs Jason Clare confirmed.