Asylum immigrants - Green Light

[drsmith]

The latest in the media,

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/na...972802152?nk=cc05baf451ea975b0ae9091c20e44e7f

The boat carrying Tamils from southern India is unlikely to be turned back due to the large distance involved and the risk to the 150 people on board.

And the Indonesian vessel presents a risky diplomatic challenge in the lead up to Indonesian Presidential elections.

In relation to the boat from Indonesia, the government doesn't want to lose its mojo now. That will only encourage next time and the poitics will be just as hard to deal with.

With regard to the boat carrying the Tamils, there was a media report this morning that Sri-Lanka would accept them back.

Sri Lankan high commissioner Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe pledged his gov*ern*ment’s continued support for the border protection policies of “close friend” Australia, including the swift return of boatpeople, amid claims that 153 Tamils were being held aboard an Australian vessel close to Christmas Island after a two-week journey from India.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...th-asylumseekers/story-fn9hm1gu-1226971447699

 

[sptrawler]

The latest in the media,

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/na...972802152?nk=cc05baf451ea975b0ae9091c20e44e7f


In relation to the boat from Indonesia, the government doesn't want to lose its mojo now. That will only encourage next time and the poitics will be just as hard to deal with.

With regard to the boat carrying the Tamils, there was a media report this morning that Sri-Lanka would accept them back.



http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...th-asylumseekers/story-fn9hm1gu-1226971447699

If they get returned to Sri Lanka, one would think someone is going to lose a lot of money, and they may not be from Sri Lanka.
Nice trip for Allanah though.

 

[drsmith]

The Australian,

PEOPLE might want to know the fate of asylum seekers on two boats off Christmas Island, but Immigration Minister Scott Morrison isn't going to tell.

"PUBLIC curiosity is not the same as the public interest and the public interest here that I have to assess is what is in the national interest and what is in the national interest is that we maintain the integrity of an operation that is saving lives at sea and protecting the integrity of our borders," Mr Morrison told Sky News on Monday - all in one breath.

The immigration minister has repeatedly refused to confirm reports over the weekend that two boats were intercepted by Australian authorities off Christmas Island.

One is reportedly carrying 153 Tamil asylum seekers, including about 30 children, many of them sick, while the second has 50 people aboard.

Refugee advocates said they had not heard from the Tamil asylum seekers since Saturday.
"I'm fairly convinced the government will rendezvous to get the Sri Lankan navy to tow them back," Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul told AAP.

Mr Morrison will only confirm incidents that involve safety of life at sea, such as medical transfers.
"There have been no such incidents for me to report over the last few days," he said.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...eps-mum-on-boats/story-fn3dxiwe-1226972950995

 

[So_Cynical]

Strange that the 100th day of no boat arrivals warranted a media release and speech and yet these 2 new boat arrivals don't...good news to be celebrated and bad news to be not commented on.

 

[sptrawler]

Strange that the 100th day of no boat arrivals warranted a media release and speech and yet these 2 new boat arrivals don't...good news to be celebrated and bad news to be not commented on.

That's probaly because they aren't arrivals, from what I've read. They seem to be pre arrival announcements from refugee advocates.

 

[drsmith]

The government is very determined and needs to be. This is a critical battle with the people smugglers and their domestic supporters.

Tony Abbott this morning,

"I'm not going to comment on the operational detail of what happens on the water but obviously we have been successful up to now," Mr Abbott told ABC radio on Tuesday.

"It's more than six months since a successful people-smuggling venture made it to Australia and that's a record that the government is determined to maintain."

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24356019/abbott-gives-nothing-away-on-asylum-boats/

The government's current silence suggests the lesson from a boat load it failed to return to Indonesia late last year has been learned.

In terms of the international politics, silence is the best public political strategy until the matter is resolved beyond doubt. That's why Labor, the Greens, Fairfax and the ABC are directing the domestic political pressure from where they are.

 

[banco]

The government is very determined and needs to be. This is a critical battle with the people smugglers and their domestic supporters.

Tony Abbott this morning,



https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24356019/abbott-gives-nothing-away-on-asylum-boats/

The government's current silence suggests the lesson from a boat load it failed to return to Indonesia late last year has been learned.

In terms of the international politics, silence is the best public political strategy until the matter is resolved beyond doubt. That's why Labor, the Greens, Fairfax and the ABC are directing the domestic political pressure from where they are.

I'm sure domestic policitcal concerns have nothing to do with the Government's silence....

 

[So_Cynical]

That's probaly because they aren't arrivals, from what I've read. They seem to be pre arrival announcements from refugee advocates.

And yet the Xmas Island detention centre has been told to expect "arrivals" im assuming these boats took a longer route travelling in a more westerly path to avoid detection while close to Indonesia, there by getting past the tow back safe zone. :dunno:

 

[drsmith]

And yet the Xmas Island detention centre has been told to expect "arrivals" im assuming these boats took a longer route travelling in a more westerly path to avoid detection while close to Indonesia, there by getting past the tow back safe zone. :dunno:

They would need to prepare as a contingency.

 

[Calliope]

I'm sure domestic policitcal concerns have nothing to do with the Government's silence....

Oh but is has. Australians are so fed up with illegal immigrants (and they are certainly not refugees) that retaining government depends on them not getting a further foothold in this country. At the moment the situation is like a soccer match. The game could be lost in the last seconds. In Morrison's case he prefers for us not to know the score until the game is over. Less anguish!

 

[drsmith]

In Morrison's case he prefers for us not to know the score until the game is over. Less anguish!

Hopefully they'll be Sri-Lankan cooperation to take that boat load back and Indonesian cooperation with the other and the only thing we'll see is an OSB update indicating no boats.

The more time that passes with no news on this, the better.

 

[drsmith]

The latest, with an interesting twist.

A senior Sri Lankan navy official said a naval vessel departed yesterday following several days of talks with Australian authorities about how to handle the impending asylum-seeker arrivals — which would have been the first to reach Australian territory in six months. “What I know is that one of our ships has already sailed. We are making a rendezvous with an Australian vessel to take over the people,” the official told The Australian yesterday.

“We do not know whether the boat they will be transferred from is an Australian civilian vessel, coast guard or navy, but this will be quite a mammoth task to transfer them because of the rough seas. The southwest monsoon has *already started so it is going to be a bit of a task.”

A Sri Lankan navy spokesman confirmed discussions were under way with Canberra, and that the asylum-seekers had been picked up by Australian authorities.

“They will be handed over to the Sri Lankan navy,” he said.

However he denied that a Sri Lankan vessel had already been dispatched. He said the handover did not involve the estimated 153 Sri Lankans, many of them from the minority Tamil community, who left the south Indian fishing port of Pondicherry on June 13.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...-handover-at-sea/story-fn59niix-1226974294277

Could the other boat be Sri-Lankans ?

On that, the Fairfax press has this,

The existence of a second vessel carrying 50 asylum seekers has not been confirmed, but Fairfax Media understands it too may have departed from somewhere other than Indonesia.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...navy-according-to-reports-20140701-zssnn.html

With the silence from the government, actual information on the number of boats nor the numbers on board have of course not been verified.

My bolds.

 

[drsmith]

ABC this morning,

Refugee groups are concerned Australia handed the group over to the Sri Lankan Navy.

A spokesman for the Sri Lankan military told the ABC that has not happened.

"There is no plan for the Sri Lankan Navy to take over asylum seekers bound for Australia from [the] Australian Navy," he said.

The spokesman says he believes Australia is taking them to Christmas Island.

The Australian Government is refusing to confirm or deny the boat's existence or its possible whereabouts.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-02/sri-lankan-military-denies-boat-intercepted/5565076

Scott Morrison in an address to Border Protection Command yesterday,

It has now been six calendar months this year and we have not had a single successful venture. That is because of what you have been able to achieve over these last six months and more. We know that the work we ask you to do is difficult, the decisions we ask you to take in context to the policies that we have can be hard but Border Protection Command has never flinched, not on one occasion. The fact you have been able to follow through and to implement what has been a very strong set of policies has delivered the dividend that I know we all agree has been a very important one for the country. A dividend of saving lives at sea and I know that this place a year ago was very, very busy when we had over 4000 people turn up in one month and I know that people had to be working all sorts of shifts and people from other parts of the organisation were coming in and helping and the contrast with what we see today and in this month and in this year could not be more stark.

http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/sm/2014/sm215959.htm

 

[noco]

ABC this morning,



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-02/sri-lankan-military-denies-boat-intercepted/5565076

Scott Morrison in an address to Border Protection Command yesterday,



http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/sm/2014/sm215959.htm

Doc, this is driving Richard Marles ( shadow minister for Immigration) and his Fabian Society comrades insane.....

The silence is Golden and it is frustrating them to the point whereby they are unable to gain any political point scoring........Marles is a compulsive liar and has been caught out on so many occasions....it does not matter to him when the news is good, he will go out of his way make it look bad......He is unbelievable.

 

[drsmith]

Doc, this is driving Richard Marles ( shadow minister for Immigration) and his Fabian Society comrades insane.....

The silence is Golden and it is frustrating them to the point whereby they are unable to gain any political point scoring........Marles is a compulsive liar and has been caught out on so many occasions....it does not matter to him when the news is good, he will go out of his way make it look bad......He is unbelievable.

Alannah MacTiernan after her weekend trip is left to talk about, well, not very much. She's now speculating we're shipping them direct to Manus.

http://media.smh.com.au/news/federal-politics/asylum-seekers-why-the-secrecy-5559671.html

From what I can tell, there have been no transfers from Xmas to Manus since the riots earlier this year and numbers there have been gradually declining with voluntary returns.

 

[drsmith]

Latest in the Fairfax press,

The second asylum seeker boat to recently attempt the journey to Australia has been intercepted by Australian officials who allegedly screened people on board via a teleconference.

A source from the immigration department has confirmed the ACV Triton, a 98-metre Australian customs patrol boat, intercepted the asylum seeker vessel on the weekend.

The boat was initially thought to have come from Java, Indonesia, but Fairfax Media understands the boat departed from Sri Lanka.

It is understood interpreters were brought into the Sydney and Melbourne offices of the department on Saturday and Sunday to help ''screen'' the asylum seekers.

Four questions were allegedly asked of the 50 passengers, including their name, country of origin, where they had come from and why they had left.

According to a department document, the Customs and Border Protection Marine Unit personnel aboard the Triton are trained in use of force, ship searches, and can undertake armed boardings at sea.

It is unknown whether the 50 asylum seekers remain on board the Triton, which can carry up to 98 people.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...at-sea-via-teleconference-20140702-3b837.html

The Australian is reporting the above 50 will be transferred to Sri-Lankan authorities mid-ocean and more interestingly, several mid-ocean transfers of asylum-seekers between Australian and Indonesian authorities have occurred in recent months.

A BOATLOAD of Sri Lankan asylum-seekers found near Cocos Island has been picked up by Australian authorities and will be handed over to the Sri Lankan navy, an official navy spokesman has confirmed.

A second senior Sri Lankan navy official told The Australian the asylum-seekers, picked up on a separate boat from that believed to have left southern India in mid-June, would be transferred to a Sri Lankan naval vessel in mid-ocean, in rough seas whipped up the monsoon.

The official said a naval vessel departed yesterday following several days of talks with Australian authorities about how to handle the impending asylum-seeker arrivals — which would have been the first to reach Australian territory in six months.

“What I know is that one of our ships has already sailed. We are making a rendezvous with an Australian vessel to take over the people,” he told The Australian.

“We do not know whether the boat they will be transferred from is an Australian civilian vessel, coastguard or navy, but this will be quite a mammoth task to transfer them because of the rough seas. The southwest monsoon has already started so it is going to be a bit of a task.”

The Sri Lankan navy’s official spokesman, Commodore Kosila, denied a Sri Lankan vessel had already been dispatched and said it had not yet been decided whether the transfer of asylum-seekers into Sri Lankan custody would happen at sea, as the senior navy official had said.

But he confirmed there would be a handover and that it involved asylum seekers from a second boat, believed to have left from Sri Lanka, and not the estimated 153 Sri Lankans who left the south Indian fishing port of Pondicherry on June 13.

“I am talking about a boat found closer to Cocos Island. There are two separate incidents,” Commodore Kosila told The Australian.

“We have been informed by the Australian Border Protection Services that they have rescued Sri Lankan asylum-seekers.

“Now they say they are bringing them on board this border protection ship and they will be handed over to the Sri Lankan navy. We do not know the number (of asylum-seekers involved),” he added.

The boat believed to be carrying 153 mostly-Tamil Sri Lankans was 250km shy of Christmas Island last Friday, when occupants reported they were running out of water and oil. There was speculation it had been intercepted by an Australian Customs vessel.

Last night a spokesman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison declined to either confirm or deny that a transfer operation was under way.

“Responding to speculative claims is contrary to the policy and practice of Operation Sovereign Borders as described by the Joint Agency Task Force,” he said.

The Sri Lankan navy’s confirmation of its involvement is the first indication that Australian authorities both knew of at least one vessel and have been negotiating for its return.

Several mid-ocean transfers of asylum-seekers between Australian and Indonesian authorities have occurred in recent months. But the far more dangerous operation planned for late this week or early next week in the monsoonal Indian Ocean will be only the second time such a handover has taken place in as many years.

In July 2012, The Australian was on board the SLNS Samudura when it met a French supertanker, Euronav, for an ocean transfer of 28 Sri Lankans. The Euronav had been convinced by Australian authorities to rescue the asylum seekers and divert to Sri Lankan waters to meet the Samudura.

Though all 28 asylum-seekers, including four women and one child, were transferred safely, the operation ended with a sickening collision between the two vessels after monsoonal swells forced the far smaller Samudura back into the side of the 330-metre supertanker.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced last October on the sidelines of the Colombo-hosted Commonwealth Heads of Australian Governments Meeting (CHOGM) that Australia would donate two retired Australian Bay Class coastguard vessels to Sri Lanka to help its navy and coast guard prevent asylum-seekers leaving its shores.

The 10-year-old boats were refitted at a cost of more than $2 million.

But The Australian understands neither of the Bay Class vessels are suitable for

monsoonal ocean waters, and the same SLNS Samudura has been deployed for the

impending ocean transfer.

The move to transfer the asylum-seekers to Sri Lankan custody is a blatant violation

of Australia’s commitments to the UN refugee convention, which acknowledges a

right of protection for refugees who have a reasonable fear of persecution if returned

to their home country.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...seeker-transfer/story-fn9hm1gu-1226975328157#

My bolds.

 

[drsmith]

several mid-ocean transfers of asylum-seekers between Australian and Indonesian authorities have occurred in recent months.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...seeker-transfer/story-fn9hm1gu-1226975328157#

In the broader context of that story, this may be a reference to transfers that took place last year.

With a bright orange lifeboat turning up on Indonesian shores as recently as May, I doubt maritime transfers to Indonesian authorities have resumed since the spying revelations.

 

[noco]

Alannah MacTiernan after her weekend trip is left to talk about, well, not very much. She's now speculating we're shipping them direct to Manus.

http://media.smh.com.au/news/federal-politics/asylum-seekers-why-the-secrecy-5559671.html

From what I can tell, there have been no transfers from Xmas to Manus since the riots earlier this year and numbers there have been gradually declining with voluntary returns.

That Alannah MacTierrnan rambled on about how this is going to affect our relationship with Indonesia with up coming election.

This boat from India or Sri-Lanka has nothing to do with Indonesia......these dingbats will say and do anything for attention to gain some political mileage.....they just cannot stand the Coalitions success after saying back in 2013, the boats could not be turned back.

The Labor Party are still trying to claim the success was due to their policies of off shore processing.......they were dragged kicking and screaming and finally Rudd introduced it back in August 2013 to save the furniture.

Their frustration is showing up every time they front the media.......they are embarrassing to themselves and would be better off keeping their mouths in the closed position.

 

[noco]

Will someone please pass this message on to Richard Marles and Alannah Mac Tiernan.


HMAS Glenelg and the Ocean Protector in the sea off Christmas Island. Source: Supplied

A BOATLOAD of Sri Lankan asylum-seekers found near Cocos Island at the weekend is being transported by Australian authorities to a treacherous mid-ocean transfer to a Sri Lankan naval *vessel in the midst of the deadly south-west monsoon.

A senior Sri Lankan navy official said a naval vessel departed yesterday following several days of talks with Australian authorities about how to handle the impending asylum-seeker arrivals ”” which would have been the first to reach Australian territory in six months. “What I know is that one of our ships has already sailed. We are making a rendezvous with an Australian vessel to take over the people,” the official told The Australian yesterday.

“We do not know whether the boat they will be transferred from is an Australian civilian vessel, coast guard or navy, but this will be quite a mammoth task to transfer them because of the rough seas. The southwest monsoon has *already started so it is going to be a bit of a task.”

A Sri Lankan navy spokesman confirmed discussions were under way with Canberra, and that the asylum-seekers had been picked up by Australian authorities.

“They will be handed over to the Sri Lankan navy,” he said.

However he denied that a Sri Lankan vessel had already been dispatched. He said the handover did not involve the estimated 153 Sri Lankans, many of them from the minority Tamil community, who left the south Indian fishing port of Pondicherry on June 13.

That boat was believed to have been 250km shy of Christmas Island last Friday when occupants reported they were running out of water and oil. There was speculation it had been intercepted by an Australian Customs vessel.

Last night a spokesman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison declined to either confirm or deny that a transfer operation was under way.

“Responding to speculative claims is contrary to the policy and practice of Operation Sovereign Borders as described by the Joint Agency Task Force,” he said.

The Sri Lankan navy’s confirmation of its involvement yesterday is the first indication that Australian authorities both knew of at least one vessel and have been negotiating for its return.

It is not known how many *asylum-seekers will be transferred to Sri Lankan custody from the boat found off Cocos island.

Several mid-ocean transfers of asylum-seekers between Australian and Indonesian authorities have occurred in recent months. But the far more dangerous operation planned for late this week or early next week in the monsoonal Indian Ocean will be only the second time such a handover has taken place in as many years.

In July 2012, The Australian was on board the SLNS Samudura when it met a French supertanker, Euronav, for an ocean transfer of 28 Sri Lankans. The Euronav had been convinced by Australian authorities to rescue the asylum- seekers and divert to Sri Lankan waters to meet the Samudura.

 

[drsmith]

The deed is either done or very close to being done.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...heAustralianNewsNDM (The Australian | News |)