Australia to send Lankan asylum seekers to remote island

AUSTRALIA: Australia will send 83 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to the Pacific island of Nauru, the Government said yesterday, in an extension of the controversial "Pacific Solution" for unwanted migrants.

The move against the boatpeople intercepted off Australia's Christmas Island last month would send a strong message to prospective illegal immigrants and people smugglers, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews told reporters.

"The Government is committed to a strong border protection policy and we are also committed to sending the strongest possible message of deterrence to people who would engage in the dangerous and unlawful activity of people smuggling," he said.

"Our message to them and anyone else who would consider doing this is that we will process them in a way which doesn't involve entry into mainland Australia."

The 83 Sri Lankan men were taken to a detention centre on Christmas Island after being intercepted by the Australian navy on February 21 and will be flown thousands of kilometres (miles) to Nauru by charter plane.

The Nauru system, under which Australia pays the tiny and impoverished nation to keep the refugees in detention, became the focus of global attention in 2001 when a boatload of Afghan refugees was offloaded there.

Last September, Australia sent seven Myanmar asylum seekers to Nauru as it reactivated the centre, which had stood empty for some months after its last occupant, an Iraqi, went to Australia for medical treatment.

Refugee rights groups said sending the latest group to Nauru would prohibit them from applying for protection in Australia.

Earlier this month charges of people smuggling were laid against two Indonesian men who were on the boat with the Sri Lankans.

The move against the boatpeople intercepted off Australia's Christmas Island last month would send a strong message to prospective illegal immigrants and people smugglers, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews told reporters.

"The Government is committed to a strong border protection policy and we are also committed to sending the strongest possible message of deterrence to people who would engage in the dangerous and unlawful activity of people smuggling," he said.

"Our message to them and anyone else who would consider doing this is that we will process them in a way which doesn't involve entry into mainland Australia."

The 83 Sri Lankan men were taken to a detention centre on Christmas Island after being intercepted by the Australian navy on February 21 and will be flown thousands of kilometres (miles) to Nauru by charter plane.

The Nauru system, under which Australia pays the tiny and impoverished nation to keep the refugees in detention, became the focus of global attention in 2001 when a boatload of Afghan refugees was offloaded there.

Last September, Australia sent seven Myanmar asylum seekers to Nauru as it reactivated the centre, which had stood empty for some months after its last occupant, an Iraqi, went to Australia for medical treatment.

Refugee rights groups said sending the latest group to Nauru would prohibit them from applying for protection in Australia.

Earlier this month charges of people smuggling were laid against two Indonesian men who were on the boat with the Sri Lankans.