Headline News. #Riot on a tiny island highlights Australia shutting a door on asylum. (CNN) -- A riot on a tiny island in the Pacific that killed no one would usually go unnoticed by the world. But when some 100 asylum seekers burned down their shelters in an Australian refugee processing center Friday on Nauru Island, it did not. Instead, it drew attention to a new restrictive law made in Australia the same day banning "boat people" from living in the country. "As of today asylum seekers who come here by boat without a visa will never be settled in Australia," said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a statement announcing the law. The asylum seekers did not revolt because of the new law, an immigration spokeswoman said. They may have not even known about it when the mayhem broke out. They are stuck on the island without papers for Australia. The United Nations has called the conditions on Nauru "unbearable," noting that asylum seekers have been gone on hunger strike before because of them. Their alternatives: Go back to where they came from, places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, or wait in limbo on a lonely island. The unrest began as peaceful demonstrations earlier in the week, but then things got out of hand, the spokeswoman said. The new law will put more people in their position -- marooned on an island with little choice of where to go next. On Saturday, Australian authorities intercepted the first boat smuggling refugees since the law was passed. It was sailing near the Christmas Islands and was crammed full with 81 people, who will face that fate. Starting immediately, all "boat people" will be taken to the sparsely populated jungle island of Manus, which is a part of Papua New Guinea. Australian officials Sunday said 15 Vietnamese asylum seekers on Manus were returned home. edition.cnn/2013/07/20/world/asia/nauru-australia-riot/index.html?hpt=ias_c1
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 09:54:34 +0000
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