Indonesian patience abundant, but not infinite Nov 10, 2009
If the Sri Lankans do not accept a deal, it appears inevitable they will have to be taken to Christmas Island, something the Australian Government has been saying there is no chance of. Meanwhile, a group of 10 women - all of them mothers - have started a hunger strike on their boat moored at a port in Merak, western Java. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
* Australia urges Sri Lanka to reform Nov 9, 2009
Joyce, who is the de-facto leader of the Nationals, told local television that Rudd should not bow to pressure and order the Oceanic Viking to sail to Australias Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island, where it has a refugee detention center. That is, in essence, defeat, Joyce said of calls for the Sri Lankans to be interned on Christmas Island ... They just hang about on the boat, and in the end, you will capitulate and you will land at Christmas Island. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Evangelist PM overdoes the fire and brimstone Nov 9, 2009
John Pilger's point is simple: the Christmas Island camp is an abhorrent way to treat people seeking asylum, whatever their country of origin, and however they reach, or almost reach, our shores. No amount of window-dressing, and no amount of bluster, especially from hypocritical politicians, will change this. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
PM can save his voice next time - that poll slide was a rough 'un Nov 9, 2009
Send the boatload to Christmas Island but deal with ALEX. the self confessed people smuggler, harshly -- 10 yrs imprisonment - may be. Blokey1 | Canberra - November 09, 2009, 10:25AM. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Rudd stays afloat in turbulent waters Nov 9, 2009
The independent senator, Nick Xenophon, added his voice yesterday to calls for the 78 Sri Lankans aboard the Oceanic Viking to be brought to Christmas Island for processing. He said the low-grade domestic political debate concerning asylum seekers had worsened the situation. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
In your ears until they bleed, the calm, methodical Rudd Nov 8, 2009
The guano ranges of Christmas Island will be adorned with their own loudspeakers, and struggling media entities such as Mr Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation will be granted fat broadcasting licences on the public shilling. Locals will be issued with special ear plugs composed of surplus wadding from the Government's scaled-down insulation scheme. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Barnaby's solution: ship Sri Lankans back home Nov 8, 2009
Senator Joyce said letting the asylum seekers be processed by Australian authorities on Christmas Island was a weak solution to the stand-off. "That is in essence defeat. It means people have worked you out, they just hang about on the boat and in the end you will capitulate and you will land at Christmas Island," he said ... "If you land at Christmas Island, within due course you'll land in Australia, people just read that as you being weak.". (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
World hits Rudd over boat people stand-off Nov 8, 2009
As the impasse involving 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers on an Australian Customs ship enters its fourth week, The New York Times heaped opprobrium on Australia's policy of processing refugees at the Christmas Island detention centre. The newspaper compared the centre to Guantanamo Bay. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Rudd Should Return Asylum Seekers on Customs Boat to Sri Lanka, Joyce Says Nov 8, 2009
If they reach Christmas Island, an Australian territory more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) off the northwestern coast, people have worked you out, said Joyce ... If you land at Christmas Island, in due course it means youll land in Australia. (Bloomberg -- Australia & New Zealand)
Deadline looms for negotiators on board Viking Nov 7, 2009
The ultimatum came as traumatised survivors of the boat that capsized en route to Australia last weekend were detained on Christmas Island ... The New York Times, which sent a reporter to Christmas Island, said Australia had a ''primordial fear'' of people arriving on boats ''instilled over past decades of anti-Asian immigration policies. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Sri Lankans reject rapid resettlement deal Nov 6, 2009
Given that the Indonesian Government has ruled out the use of force to remove the Sri Lankans, the Government might have to bring the asylum seekers to Christmas Island, an option the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, refused to rule out yesterday ... Meanwhile, pressure is growing in Australia to bring the 78 to Christmas Island. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
No 'white' ship fleeing disaster would be treated like this Nov 6, 2009
No shipload of whites fleeing disaster would be treated like this. The Australian silence has unique features. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Rudd ready to sit out boat crisis Nov 5, 2009
THE Federal Government has refused to take the 78 asylum seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking to Christmas Island, saying the deal between Jakarta and Australia to disembark the Sri Lankans in Indonesia needed to be honoured ... The boat is believed to be carrying 16 people, who will be taken to Christmas Island ... He sent a veiled message to Indonesia by saying that the 27 survivors whose boat sank off the Cocos Islands on Sunday were going to Christmas Island because they were saved in... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Pilger slams govt's asylum-seeker policy Nov 4, 2009
"What the Rudd government is doing in preventing them from landing or trying to bribe Indonesia to take them or interning them in what's effectively a concentration camp on Christmas Island ... is both illegal and immoral.". Mr Pilger said the one difference between the actions of Kevin Rudd and former prime minister John Howard was "hypocrisy". (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Australia Authorities Suspend Search for Missing People on B Nov 4, 2009
The survivors are being taken to Christmas Island, an Australian territory where asylum seekers are processed, for medical checks ... Most are caught by customs authorities and are detained in an immigration camp on remote Christmas Island while their refugee applications are assessed, a process that can take months or years. (Fox News)
Survivors being taken to Christmas Island Nov 4, 2009
THE 27 survivors from a refugee boat that sank 350 nautical miles off the Cocos Islands are being taken to the Australian territory of Christmas Island for processing ... The 27 survivors will be taken to Christmas Island where appropriate medical treatment and mental health support, including grief counselling, will be available,'' the Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O'Connor, said last night ... Last night, a Bahamas-registered LNG tanker which had come to the aid of the boat on Sunday... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Social butterflies have a flutter Nov 4, 2009
THERE were strawberries in champagne glasses and crepe paper hanging from the ceilings as the Melbourne Cup leered out of a plasma screen on Christmas Island yesterday. Strawberries cost $10 a punnet in the minute Australian territory where about 30 locals celebrated the Cup with a ladies' lunch at the Christmas Island Cricket and Sporting Club, next to the family detention centre, in the shadow of Phosphate Hill. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Death toll rises from boat tragedy Nov 4, 2009
A rescue ship carrying 27 survivors from the boat that sank near Cocos Island is expected to set sail for Christmas Island today ... At Christmas Island survivors will be given medical treatment, mental health support and grief counselling, and can make their asylum claims ... West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said they should be taken to Christmas Island for processing: ''They are now, whether we like it or not, an Australian responsibility. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Search in dark for boat people Nov 3, 2009
He said the plan was to take the survivors to Christmas Island once the search and rescue operation was called off. Confirmation that the boat was carrying more Tamil asylum seekers added to the political pressure on Mr Rudd. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Rescue underway after boat sinks off Australia Nov 3, 2009
Most are caught by customs authorities and are detained in an immigration camp on remote Christmas Island while their refugee applications are assessed, a process that can take months or years. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. (Florida Today)
Comments 179 Nov 3, 2009
They are also consistent with a slightly more subtle orthodoxy that argues that anyone who supports the detention of asylum seekers on Christmas Island is not merely on the wrong side of a moral and legal argument, but is of cruel and deficient character. A predictable orgy of blame-throwing has accompanied the latest influx of boat people, an influx that followed changes in the policy and rhetoric of the Rudd Government, which announced it would use mandatory detention as a last resort. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
One confirmed dead in Cocos search Nov 3, 2009
The survivors would most likely be sent to Christmas Island but no decision had yet been made. The final decision rested with the captains of the rescue ships, he said. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Ocean rescue: 19 plucked from water, 21 missing Nov 2, 2009
Boat Sinks Off Cocos Islands, West of Australia. GEORGINA ROBINSON AND BRENDAN NICHOLSON. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Cardboard Kev Nov 2, 2009
Ultimately he must either continue to implement the ''Indonesia solution'' or accept that Australia will need to process growing numbers of arrivals on Christmas Island and the Australian mainland ... By leaving the problem to Indonesian authorities, the Government hopes to harden its ''tough on border protection'' credentials and solve political and logistical problems created by overcrowding at Christmas Island. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Oz: boat sinks, 20 dead? Nov 2, 2009
Australia has been forced to nearly double the capacity at its main refugee centre on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. It is also involved in an ongoing stand-off over the fate of 78 rescued Sri Lankans, who are refusing to leave an Australian ship moored in Indonesia. (iAfrica.com)
More than 20 feared dead as boat sinks off Australia Nov 2, 2009
" onclick="Next();" src="/images/butt_next. " Some 17 people were rescued by scrambling aboard life-rafts thrown out by the LNG Pioneer, which was sailing to Western Australia when it diverted course to help the stricken boat. A maritime safety official said there were "grave concerns" for the missing, while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned that finding more survivors would be difficult. "Our assets have been deployed, we have co-ordinated with other vessels in the area. (Channelnewsasia.com)
Dozens missing in capsizing off Indonesia Nov 2, 2009
Most end up caught by customs authorities and detained on Christmas Island, which is administered by Australia. An Australian military plane was on its way to the area. (Boston Globe)
Survivors Pulled From Sinking Boat as Australia Ponders Refugee Handling Nov 2, 2009
Many of the so-called asylum seekers are held at Christmas Island, located some 2,600 kilometers northwest of Perth, the capital of the state of Western Australia. Rudd is preparing to double the capacity of the Christmas Island detention center to hold as many as 2,300 people to cope with the rising number of migrants, the Australian newspaper reported on Oct. 31. (Bloomberg -- Australia & New Zealand)
World hits home Nov 1, 2009
The suggestion that they're not that keen is poison for those who believe that Australia should accept the reality of the asylum-seeker phenomenon and simply pick them up and move them to Christmas Island or the mainland, and start processing them straight away ... None of this baloney about Indonesia holding them for us or Christmas Island not being a part of Australia. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Australia ups capacity to handle boatpeople Nov 1, 2009
The Christmas Island facility, where all boatpeople are taken to be assessed and detained by Australian authorities, can currently accommodate about 1,400 people but has strained to cope with recent arrivals ... Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said expanding the Christmas Island centre was the most effective way of dealing with increased numbers of asylum seekers ... The Christmas Island announcement comes as the future of 78 ethnic Tamil Sri Lankans who are refusing to leave an Australian ship... (Yahoo! Asia News)
Australia to expand asylum centre Nov 1, 2009
The Australian government has announced plans to significantly expand a detention centre on Christmas Island to cope with the influx of asylum seekers ... Critics argue that asylum seekers are held at Christmas Island for processing, rather than allowing them to step foot on the Australian mainland ... So the decision to expand the capacity of the Christmas Island detention centre in the Indian Ocean, where asylum seekers arriving by boat, are processed is hugely contentious. (BBC News -- Asia-Pacific)
Christmas Island detention centre to be expanded - reports Oct 31, 2009
As the stalemate continues aboard the Oceanic Viking, it's s been revealed that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is planning to double the size of the Christmas Island detention centre ... The capacity of the Christmas Island immigration detention centre will. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Bobbing along on an even keel Oct 31, 2009
From policy and political points of view, however, Rudd cannot afford to back down and order the Oceanic Viking to offload its human cargo on Christmas Island ... Now anyone picked up in Australian waters is processed at Christmas Island. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Captain Rudd's preferred course - a little to the right Oct 31, 2009
The boat people are locked up and processed on Australian territory, and Christmas Island in particular, rather than in Nauru or Papua New Guinea. Women and children are no longer caged behind razorwire, but that was a Howard policy from 2005 that Labor has inherited. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Rising tide of asylum-seekers: Will Australia let them in? Oct 31, 2009
Asylum-seekers who reach Australian waters are taken to Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean ... The use of Christmas Island bursting at the seams following the arrival of 34 boats carrying about 1,700 people this year, the largest number for seven years has been denounced by the Australian Human Rights Commission. (Christian Science Monitor -- World)
Rudd must relent Oct 30, 2009
Unless something dramatic happens, there is only one place the 78 Sri Lankans aboard the Oceanic Viking are going to end up - Christmas Island ... If the Australian Government relents and moves the Sri Lankans to Christmas Island, those behind the human traffic in leaky boats will make the most of the decision to boost their trade ... Unless the Indonesian President moves in and defuses the situation Australia's only realistic option is to take the asylum seekers to Christmas Island. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Rudd to asylum seekers: we'll wait as long as it takes Oct 30, 2009
KEVIN RUDD has warned the asylum seekers holding out aboard the Oceanic Viking that the Government will wait for as long as it takes for them to disembark in Indonesia because there is no prospect of the ship being redirected to the Australian territory of Christmas Island. With the stand-off now in its 12th day, the Prime Minister echoed the sentiment of the Indonesian Government, telling Parliament that ''Australia also has a great patience in handling these matters. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Talking Tu(r)ckey in Canberra Oct 30, 2009
The message being clear and unequivocal, and having that old fashioned ideal of thematic consistency in order to rend it comprehensible evidently got out quickly, given the queues of hopefuls now massing in the ocean near Christmas Island. (The nerve of these dodgy types. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Use the army on asylum seeker boat: Tuckey Oct 29, 2009
A scheme that let Christmas Island detainees buy iPods with Federal. Top National articles. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Australia refuses Tamil refugees Oct 29, 2009
Human traffickers often use Indonesia or Malaysia as staging points before putting the migrants on boats for the hazardous voyage to Christmas Island, an Australian territory. Australia receives just a fraction each year of what the UN estimates to be more than 15 million refugees globally, but the issue has split the country. (BBC News -- South Asia)
At last, we have a real leader - pity that it's not Rudd Oct 29, 2009
THE swelling number of asylum seekers at Christmas Island is a headache. Who's steering this boat. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Who the hell is running the ship? Oct 29, 2009
THE swelling number of asylum seekers at Christmas Island is a headache. THE Federal Government is not ruling out the forced removal of the 78. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Airline profits take off on boat people surge Oct 29, 2009
THE swelling number of asylum seekers at Christmas Island is a headache for government but a boon to an Australian company vying to control flights taking staff, food and medical supplies to the island. AIOTA, a regional airline based in Perth, will take over international flights between Christmas Island and Singapore from next week and is also bidding for a contract to increase seats between Perth and the island. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Asylum seekers Oct 29, 2009
At last, we have a real leader - pity that it's not Rudd. Union leader Paul Howes. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Australian PM said asylum seekers moving to new port Oct 28, 2009
CANBERRA, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Human Rights Commission on Friday slammed the federal government over its use of mandatory detention and processing of asylum seekers on Christmas Island. As authorities on Friday intercepted another boat -- the 36th of this year -- off the coast of Western Australia, the commission cautioned the government against departing from its international human rights obligations. (Xinhuanet, China)
Sri Lankan asylum seekers refuse to leave boat Oct 28, 2009
But Mr Smith said there was "no chance" the group would be transferred to Christmas Island to be processed Australian territory. Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young criticised Mr Smiths suggestion that force may be used to offload the Sri Lankans. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
iPod ban for Christmas Island detainees Oct 28, 2009
Asylum seeker iPod ban Christmas Island ... A scheme that let Christmas Island detainees buy iPods with Federal Government money has been scuppered by Australia's immigration department after impoverished locals objected to it ... "Clients in the immigration detention centre and alternative detention on Christmas Island do not receive any cash allowance but can purchase incidentals through the use of a points-based system called the purchasing allowance scheme (PAS)," the spokesman said. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Technology)
Wielding the whip on asylum seekers Oct 27, 2009
Each year 30,000 West Africans make a dangerous eight day boat journey to the Canary Islands, a stepping stone to Europe as Christmas Island is to Australia. NGOs and the Red Cross advise them to arrive without papers because Spain has only 40 days to identify their country of origin and deport them. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
UN puts Rudd policies in spotlight Oct 27, 2009
It is understood Mr Grover, who will also examine health issues in indigenous communities and prisons, is not planning to visit Christmas Island because of time constraints. Several Australian human rights lawyers and groups, including the local branch of Amnesty International, are concerned about moves to have asylum seekers processed in Indonesia, which is not a signatory to the UN convention on refugees. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Australia's Faulkner Addresses People Smuggling in Talks With Indonesia Oct 27, 2009
Australias offshore immigration detention center on Christmas Island, where asylum seekers are held for processing, is nearing capacity, forcing the government to consider expanding the A$400 million ($367 million) site. To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at. (Bloomberg -- Australia & New Zealand)
Rudd's 'Indonesia solution' prickly Oct 26, 2009
But when the latter involves having people processed in Indonesia rather than on Christmas Island, uncomfortable questions arise. The Government cannot vouch for how these people are treated in detention. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Smith calm amid storm Oct 26, 2009
I see Wilson Tuckey has come up with another pronouncement that asylum seekers could endanger the health of Australian children because health checks are inadequate on Christmas Island. It seems to me that the Opposition speaks with forked tongue on this issue on the one hand they demand that the Governemnt does not allow even one of these people to set foot on Australian soil and on the other they castigate the Government for causing the death of asylum seekers on the high seas and for not... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Labor charged with mistreating boat people Oct 24, 2009
THE Human Rights Commissioner, Catherine Branson, has criticised conditions on Christmas Island and demanded the Rudd Government stop detaining people there immediately ... Its arrival will put further pressure on Christmas Island, which already has 1129 detainees, and feed Opposition claims that the Government has lost control of Australia's borders ... The Howard-era laws excising the islands should be overturned immediately, the commission's 2009 Immigration Detention and Offshore Processing... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Christmas Island 'violates' rights Oct 24, 2009
Australia should stop using Christmas Island to detain people and create two classes of asylum seekers, Australian Human Rights Commissioner Catherine Branson says. As a boatload of 33 people, picked up by the Navy yesterday, was poised to crowd the island further, Ms Branson, QC, lashed the retention of laws that excised thousands of Australian islands, including Christmas Island, for migration purposes ... Laws excising the islands should be overturned immediately, the commission said in its... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Ad hoc solution no long-term answer Oct 24, 2009
David Marr visited immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island. COLOMBO: Thousands of Tamil refugees held in camps since May have been. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Risky boat beats hell on earth Oct 24, 2009
Vilvarajah, a frightened 48-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil, will soon get on a boat with his wife and three children and sail for Christmas Island ... Walgampaya insists his government gives Australia all the help it seeks in establishing the credentials of Sri Lankans taken to Christmas Island ... David Marr visited immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
An agonising wait Oct 24, 2009
David Marr visited immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island and encountered the complexity of sorting legitimate refugees from the rest ... "All we had was one cup of water and one cup of Magi noodle soup per day, but everyone was sick all the time." In a tin shed on Christmas Island, this young Tamil was taking a break in a session called to help women cope with the stress of detention ... Christmas Island was once full of Afghans. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Asylum seekers protest on customs ship Oct 24, 2009
The Australian Human Rights Commission has criticised the federal government over its use of mandatory detention and processing of asylum seekers on Christmas Island. On Friday authorities intercepted the 36th boat this year of asylum seekers heading for Australia. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Asylum boat had holes drilled in hull Oct 23, 2009
And another boatload of asylum seekers was intercepted yesterday, carrying 22 passengers, believed to be from the Middle East, and two crew, near Ashmore Island, and was being taken to Christmas Island. It is the 34th such boat this year, making it 1767 boat people seeking asylum. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Labor's policies are not encouraging boat people Oct 23, 2009
Labor also maintained the key border protection policies of the previous Government a system of excision and the mandatory detention, and the offshore processing on Christmas Island of all irregular maritime arrivals. We also firmly believe that regional engagement and co-operation with Indonesia and other South-East Asian neighbours is a vital component of a successful policy to combat people smuggling and have therefore increased our regional cooperation arrangements. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Australian Navy Intercepts Suspected Refugee Boat Off Northwest Coast Oct 23, 2009
The group will be transferred to an immigration detention center on Christmas Island for security, identity and health checks, OConnor said ... The Christmas Island center is nearing capacity, forcing the government to consider expanding the A$400 million ($371 million) site. (Bloomberg -- Australia & New Zealand)
It's all familiar now, but more contempt than comfort Oct 23, 2009
It's been clear for long days now that the Australian parliament was moving towards a 2001-style explosion over border protection at a pace in direct proportion to the number of boats sailing across the horizon towards Christmas Island. The Prime Minister has been in Jakarta with an open chequebook trying to outsource the problem to Indonesia, and the Opposition has been talking in code about the government softening its border protection laws to the point of inviting people smuggling. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Labor all at sea on asylum promises Oct 23, 2009
The development came as the debate in Parliament turned ugly, with Liberals claiming the asylum seekers posed terrorism and disease risks, and a boat carrying 32 people was intercepted near Christmas Island. New figures tabled in Parliament showed the Government has failed to deliver on its election promise to speed up decisions on whether to let asylum seekers stay in the country. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Another 'asylum seeker' boat intercepted Oct 23, 2009
The Australian Human Rights Commission has criticised the federal government over its use of mandatory detention and processing of asylum seekers on Christmas Island ... The commission said the decision to unwind the Pacific Solution, introduced under the Howard government, was a step in the right direction, but has raised concerns over the Rudd government's use of Christmas Island to process asylum seekers ... "The Australian Human Rights Commission welcomed the federal government's decision to... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
'Ugly politics' blasted out of water Oct 22, 2009
The people will be taken to Christmas Island for processing. In the West Javanese port of Merak last night, Indonesian authorities were scrambling to prepare for the arrival of 78 asylum seekers, including a sick child, aboard the Australian Customs ship Oceanic Viking. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
