AUSTRALIAN authorities have again used giant lifeboats to return boatpeople to Indonesia, with a group of 34 asylum-seekers washing up on a West Java beach. Indonesian media reported that a large orange lifeboat washed up on Pangandaran Beach on Wednesday night. Ciamis police inspector Firmaansyah was quoted as saying that the 34 asylum-seekers appeared to be from Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. The boat was like an orange-coloured capsule made of fibreglass, Mr Firmaansyah told Kompas. The boat was closed, with ventilation windows on the top. Inside police found the remains of food and drink. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed the purchase of several large lifeboats, which are known to be used in turn-back operations. Wednesdays arrival was the second known instance of the boats having been deployed. Authorities have begun using the boats in order to stop asylum-seekers from preventing their return to Indonesia by scuttling their own boat. Yesterdays news means at least six boatloads of asylum-seekers have now been turned back to Indonesia, either in their own vessels or on the Australian-supplied lifeboats. The high number of turn-backs coupled with the absence of new boat arrivals suggest turn-backs have become routine procedure, rather than aberrations. Mr Morrisons office declined to comment on the reports. In accordance with the Operation Sovereign Borders Joint Agency Task Force policy regarding public release of information on operational matters, the government has no response on the issues raised, a spokeswoman for the minister said yesterday. Indonesian media outlet Metro TV showed footage of the lifeboat, which was beached some distance from the water. Inside, were dozens of restraints, apparently for passengers, lining the walls. There was footage of the migrants being taken into Indonesian custody and separate reports they had been taken into detention in Tasikmalaya, West Java. There were suggestions that those returned had been within sight of Christmas Island over the weekend. Christmas Island residents first suspected a turnback operation was imminent last Thursday when they saw the Customs vessel Triton towing an orange lifeboat on the horizon. That afternoon the Triton approached the edge of the islands main harbour with women and at least one child on the back deck, close enough to be seen from land. We knew something big was happening because there were four Australian ships, navy and Customs, going back and forth and the lifeboat was there too, one resident said. Two asylum-seekers were brought ashore for medical treatment over the following two days, one of them a man with heart problems, but everyone else was held off the Australian territory, apparently on the Triton or the Bathurst. Then on Monday afternoon the Triton and the lifeboat disappeared from view. Labor immigration spokesman Richard Marles condemned the government over the culture of secrecy now shrouding border security policy. It is totally unacceptable that we are getting news about this issue from an Indonesian news service rather than our own government, he said. Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson Young said news of the latest attempt to reach Australia by boat was proof asylum-seekers were being driven from their homes by push factors, such as war and persecution. theaustralian.au/national-affairs/policy/at-least-six-boatloads-of-asylum-seekers-have-been-turned-back-to-indonesia/story-fn9hm1gu-1226820015309#
Posted on: Thu, 06 Feb 2014 20:30:52 +0000
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