AUSTRALIA MORE THAN 500 ASYLUM SEEKERS ARRIVED IN THE LAST TWO WEEK IN THE COUNTRY 23TH SEPTEMBER 2013 More than 500 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia in the past two weeks, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said during his first weekly media briefing on asylum boat arrivals on Monday. According to him, half of those have already left Australia’s shores for processing on either Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island or Nauru. He confirmed that the Abbott government won’t let the media know if asylum seeker boats have been turned back to Indonesia. Morrison said the government would be transparent about boat arrivals and the number of people transferred to regional processing countries but “tactical” issues would not be discussed with the media. He said the government was committed to an open briefing process but there were limitations on what could be discussed “for the protection and safety of the people who are doing our service for our nation”. Morrison also said the government would aim to send all asylum seekers to Nauru or Manus Island within 48 hours. “If people are fit to get on a boat, they’ll be quickly deemed fit to fly,” he said.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 02:56:15 +0000
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