Plan to stop boat people
The Sydney Morning Herald
May 2, 2007
THE Federal Government is about to spend millions more on its campaign to stop boat people, with a plan aimed at disrupting people smugglers in South-East Asia.
The budget measures follow this week's visit by the Immigration Minister, Kevin Andrews, to Indonesia to discuss combating people smuggling.
Mr Andrews said he wanted to build on co-operation with Indonesia in efforts “to strengthen our borders and our joint investment in more sophisticated detection of irregular movements ”
The co-ordinator of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, David Manne, said it appeared the Government was developing a radical “South-East Asian solution” to replace its troubled “Pacific solution” to deter asylum seekers.
He said the Government was seeking to send asylum seekers to countries such as Malaysia, where Burmese Rohingyan refugees were routinely persecuted.
Mark Metherell
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