Rudd's Australia: More illegals arrive at Barrow Island

More asylum seekers intercepted off WA coast

By Allison Rehn
The Daily Telegraph
April 22, 2009 02:30pm

ANOTHER boatload of asylum seekers has been intercepted off the West Australian coast.

The Federal Government has just confirmed the Royal Australian Navy patrol boat HMAS Wollongong made the interception approximately 47 nautical miles from south-west of Barrow Island.

Border Protection Command aircraft first spotted the vessel, which then alerted the HMAS Wollongong.

Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus said initial indications are that there are 32 people on board, all adult males.

Mr Debus said the successful interception demonstrated the effectiveness of Border Protection Command's targeted surveillance.

"Officers from Customs and Border Protection and the Royal Australian Navy continue to work together to protect Australia's maritime domain from unauthorised arrivals," Mr Debus said.

"The Australian Government is committed to strong border security arrangements to deal effectively and appropriately with people smugglers."

The group will be transferred to HMAS Wollongong and then taken to Christmas Island where they will undergo health, security and other checks to establish their identity and reasons for their voyage.

It is the seventh boat of asylum seekers to arrive in Australian waters this year.

More Rudd government supporters and future social security recipients from the middle east land on Australian soil.
The eighth boat so far this year, Rudd's answer is to pay Indonesia and extra $40million on top of the half billion we pay them already.
Why are these illegals coming back since the Howard governments illegal entrant policies were abandoned by Australia's Dear Leader, Comrade Rudd?

Well according to the Indonesians this is why.....

Refugees 'reacted to law change': Indonesia

Paul Maley
The Australian
April 22, 2009

INDONESIA experienced an increase in the number of suspected refugees transiting through its borders at the same time Australia was softening its border protection policies.

Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Primo Alui Joelianto, said Indonesian-based people-smugglers had exploited changes to Australian law as a way of drumming up business.

And as the political row over the surge in boat arrivals deepened - with Kevin Rudd branding Malcolm Turnbull "opportunistic" over his handling of the issue - senior government sources told The Australian another boat was due to be intercepted "within days". They are likely to join asylum seekers, who landed earlier this month, on Christmas Island.

Yesterday, Mr Joelianto said Indonesia had seen a spike in suspected refugees transiting the sprawling archipelago.

Significantly, Mr Joelianto dated the start of the increase at September last year, the same time the Rudd Government announced a series of policy changes aimed at softening Australia's treatment of refugees. But at the same time, the ambassador acknowledged Labor's claim about the causes of the surge, saying violence abroad and the scourge of people-smuggling were at the root of the problem.

Speaking to The Australian, Mr Joelianto said the problem of irregular migration was too big for Indonesia to handle alone.

When asked if more suspected refugees had been coming into Indonesia, heading for the main transit points for people journeying to Australia, Mr Joelianto replied: "We noted, especially after September 2008, the influx, the flow of illegal migrants get more and more," he said. "But I think we have to see the root cause - conflict, the political instability, economic problems in the origin country; that's why this problem is not easy to tackle."

But Mr Joelianto suggested people-smugglers were also using the policy changes as a way of drumming up business.

"I think maybe the traffickers use this as a trial to organise more of flowing of the refugees, because they get the money for that," Mr Joelianto said.

"So maybe they use this new policy, but I don't know exactly."

Mr Joelianto's assessment echoed that of Immigration Minister Chris Evans, who said the smugglers had used changes to Australian law as a "marketing tool".

Indonesian lawmakers planned to pass legislation outlawing people-smuggling, a high priority for the Australian Government, Mr Joelianto said.

His assurance came as Mr Rudd announced Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had signed the extradition to Australia of Iraqi-Iranian citizen Hadi Ahmadi.

Mr Rudd said Mr Ahmadi was suspected of organising the passage of four boats carrying more than 900 "unlawful non-citizens" to Australia.

Yesterday, Mr Ahmadi's lawyer, Joel Tannos, said Australia now had a month to organise the extradition.

"If it's not done within that time, the presidential decree lapses. So the time it's done is up to Australia," Mr Tannos said.

Presidential legal adviser Denny Indrayana said he expected the extradition to be acted on quickly.

"The two countries will follow up and accelerate the bureaucratic process on this," Dr Indrayana said.

The development came as police in the Northern Territory began interviewing survivors of last Thursday's boat blast that killed five asylum seekers and seriously injured dozens more.

When asked if a return the Pacific Solution of offshore processing would assist Jakarta's management of the problem, Mr Joelianto said the fight against smugglers was the key.

Additional reporting: Stephen Fitzpatrick