198 people rescued from one asylum boat, 72 intercepted on another
Gemma Jones
The Daily Telegraph
September 28, 2012 8:20PM
THE government's boat policy is being swamped, with a record number of asylum seekers arriving this month including 198 people rescued after they called triple-0
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority sent HMAS Broome to rescue passengers on the stricken vessel northwest of Christmas Island on Friday morning.
It was the second biggest boatload to arrive since Labor was elected in 2007. The biggest - carrying 211 - was intercepted last month.
The asylum seekers were taken to Christmas Island for security, health and identity checks.
Later, ACV Hervey Bay, operating under the control of Border Protection Command, intercepted a suspected irregular entry vessel north of Cocos and it is believed there were 72 people on board.
Since Labor announced it would send asylum seekers to Nauru and Manus Island last month, 3256 people, including more than 2000 this month, have arrived - more than six times the current capacity of Nauru's processing centre.
There were due to be 500 places in Nauru by the end of the month, with 1500 to be the final capacity and 600 at Manus Island, where the army is constructing a tent camp.
The new boats arrived as 31 more Sri Lankan asylum seekers were flown to Nauru. They boarded a midnight charter flight in Darwin and landed at 5am yesterday with the Department of Immigration keen to show asylum seekers will be taken from mainland detention centres - not just Christmas Island.
After the new group left the plane to be bused to the Topside camp, two Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have spent only weeks on Nauru left on the charter plane bound for home.
They will get resettlement allowances of up to $3300 each.
Another asylum seeker asked to leave Nauru last week and was flown home while and a group of 18 Sri Lankan asylum seekers asked to be flown home from Christmas Island before they could be sent to the remote Pacific Island.
that's a lot of money in sri lanka - well worth the trip out here - depending on how much they pay - wonder if they're scamming the reintegration payments
ReplyDeleteHello Helena,
ReplyDeleteNothing would surprise me,Labor's illegal immigration SCAM / Racket is but one of many of their acts of trechery.