The long-simmering asylum-seeker debate boiled over when a boat carrying 255 Tamils bound for Australia was redirected to Indonesia.
What happened in the Sunda Strait?
An asylum seeker is someone who has left their country of origin in search of a haven and recognition as a refugee.
A phone call from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono resulted in the interception of a boat carrying 255 Tamil asylum seekers by the Indonesian Navy in the Sunda Strait. Though on its way to Christmas Island, where Australia has a large, custom-built detention centre, the boat was diverted to the Indonesian port of Merak, in western Java.
These Tamils from northern Sri Lanka, who included 27 women and 31 children, pleaded with Mr Rudd to accept them in Australia. They refused to disembark for fear of being deported or sent to allegedly overcrowded and harsh Indonesian detention centres, where they could face many years before being resettled elsewhere.
Are more asylum seekers expected in Australia?
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2009 report, the displacement of some 42 million people worldwide, including more than 15 million refugees, is the result of continuing or escalating conflicts around the world. About 80 per cent of the world's refugees are hosted by developing countries such as Pakistan, Syria, Iran and Jordan.
Many say that Australia cannot be immune to these growing numbers, pointing out that we receive far fewer asylum seekers than many other countries. In 2008, Italy received 36,000 asylum seekers by boat and the US received 49,000. So far this year, about 1700 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia by boat, with more arrivals intercepted in recent days.
The stated aim of the regional co-operation between Australia and Indonesia is to crack down on the criminal activities of people smugglers - those who surreptitiously transport people, often desperate refugees, across international borders for a sizeable fee. Packed onto overcrowded, usually unsafe boats, passengers are often treated inhumanely and deaths are common.
What major policy changes did the Rudd Government make?
The Government introduced several changes to the policies of the previous government. For example, the highly controversial Pacific Solution, under which asylum seekers were transported to detention centres in other countries, has been abolished. Temporary protection visas (TPVs), which required a refugee's case to be reassessed after three years with the potential of being sent home, were scrapped in 2008. Detainees are no longer charged for their detention costs.
Some in Opposition attribute the increase in arrivals to these "failed" policy reforms, saying the Government has "gone soft" on border security. The Government says "push factors" such as insurgency, war and unrest in many parts of the world are responsible.
What do others say?
Many criticise the re-emergence of "fear tactics" in the debate, which they say are reminiscent of the previous government's approach to the issue. They urge the Government to refuse to be bullied into an inhumane response, and to refrain from any temptation to appeal to the racial intolerance inherent within a small section of Australian society.
Others, including the head of the Australian Workers Union, Paul Howes, say we should welcome the Sri Lankan asylum seekers. He urges the Government to ''take the moral high ground on this matter because this is about social justice. This is about upholding the rule of law. This is about doing the right thing as a first world developed nation, and it's about doing the right thing for our communities.''
Recent Headlines
''People-smuggler arrested on Tamil boat'', The Age, October 19
''More global conflict means more asylum seekers", Sydney Morning Herald, October 14
"It's Rudd's new Tampa", Herald Sun, October 16
"Razor wire returns", The Age, October 17
What The Age says
"Some facts are in order. First, people have a legal right under the United Nations convention on refugees, to which Australia is a signatory, to seek protection from persecution. For the past decade, more than 90 per cent of asylum seekers arriving by boat have been genuine refugees; their actions are not illegal. Second, the overwhelming majority of asylum seekers, more than 96 per cent, enter Australia by air. Fewer than 40 per cent of these 'plane people' have their refugee claims accepted, yet there is little alarm about this group.
''The panic is all about an increase in boat people, from 148 (out of 3980 asylum seekers in total) in 2007, to 161 (out of 4750) last year, to about 1700 this year. The Opposition blames the adoption of 'softer' policies last September, but the increase began well before then.''
Editorial opinion, October 15
What people say
"These people are fleeing a humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka that has been orchestrated by the Government of Sri Lanka and motivated on ethnic grounds. About 300,000 Tamils remain under military rule in camps that lack basic food, shelter and health requirements. Non-government organisations and independent media access to the camps is heavily restricted.
People smugglers are the middle men, and not the root cause of why people are desperate to escape persecution, hunger and an uncertain future. They are, however, convenient bogeymen for the Australian Government to apportion blame as it seeks to preserve its 'warm diplomatic relations' with Sri Lanka."
Dr Sam Pari, The Age, October 15
"Has anyone mentioned the hundreds of true 'illegals' who came to Australia to attend 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney to see the Pope and then disappeared? Does anyone mention the thousands of students and holiday-makers who overstay their visas every year? Yet we continue to vilify and fear a relative few refugees who make their way to Australia by boat.''
Doug Steley, The Australian, October 15
''What we used to do with the navy was not go out and greet these boats. If they weren't in Australian territorial waters, in the Australian migration zone, the navy would tow the boats back to Indonesian territorial waters and give them enough fuel to get back to Indonesia. The (measures) were abolished, and so obviously for the people smugglers, Australia is open for business again.''
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer, Sydney Morning Herald, October 16
''First we 'get tough' on oppressors in foreign countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, then we 'get tough' on those who seek asylum from oppression ?"
Mark Pearce, Sydney Morning Herald, October 17
''There's not a person on this boat who has not seen someone they know killed or tortured. There are kids who have seen the legs of their fathers cut off in front of them. They are taking people out at night, stripping them and shooting them. Five people every day, sometimes 10. Women are being tortured and raped. The situation is very bad, worse than it has ever been.''
Alex, Tamil asylum seeker, The Age, October 15
''I very much regret that the Opposition seem to be trying to scare the Australian people about the number of people that might come here. It's really since Tampa that this has been made a political issue. The Liberal Party is still playing the same game. Once you scratch the redneck nerve of a significant number of Australians as happened post-Tampa, then it becomes a political plaything and it's very hard to put the genie back in the bottle.''
Former prime minister, Malcolm Fraser, The Age, October 15
Web Links
The United Nations Refugee Agency
www.unhcr.org.au/index.shtml
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
immi.gov.au
A Slow Boat to Tragedy - Issues in the News, April 2009
www.education.theage.com.au/cmspage.php?intid=135&intversion=269
Your Say
What do you think about asylum seekers? Do you agree that, as a developed nation, Australia has obligations towards people seeking asylum? What policies or ideas do you think might be helpful in this debate?
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