Asylum Seeker Deaths Pressure Australia to Change Policy

Jakarta Globe, Michael Perry | December 16, 2010

Sydney. The death of 28 asylum seekers who drowned when their boat was smashed on rocks on Christmas Island has renewed pressure on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to soften Australia's asylum policy and may strain her one-seat minority government.

A screengrab taken on 15 Dec. 2010 of an asylum seeker
boat incident off Christmas Island. Several people reportedly
are feared dead after a boat carrying 70 asylum seekers
crashed into cliffs at Christmas Island. (EPA Photo)

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott, whose support won Gillard's Labor a second term in August, has demanded the prime minister explain why the Indonesian timber boat, carrying Iraqis, was not intercepted on Wednesday, like other asylum boats, in open seas.

Australia's Greens party, another key member of Gillard's minority government, has also renewed calls for a "more humane" approach to boatpeople and a regional asylum processing centre. "Rumours and allegations are shooting through communities...with the worst being that government authorities allowed this to happen," Oakeshott said in a statement on Thursday.

"These rumours must be addressed head on. Leadership must make a detailed and comprehensive statement of exactly what happened and why it happened. A clear and precise statement from the prime minister is important and must come soon."

The issue of how to handle boatpeople arrivals, while small in number compared with those crossing the Mediterranean to Europe, is an emotive subject in Australia and was a major issue at August national elections.

But both Oakeshott and the Greens, who favour a softer line on asylum policy, are not expected to risk the government's future, although Gillard will need to balance their concerns with those of Labor hardliners. "Labor is really struggling on border security issues.

The government raised expectations that they would stop the boat arrivals. But their policy is a complete mess," said political analyst Nick Economou, from Melbourne's Monash University.

Gillard has cut short her Christmas holidays to deal with the asylum seeker tragedy. She has previously proposed a regional asylum processing centre, possibly in East Timor, to curb boatpeople arrivals. More than 130 boats arrived in 2010.

"Her task is purely and simply to try and ensure that yesterday's deaths do not revive the issue of boatpeople in a way that seriously damages the standing of her government," said www.crikey.com.au political commentator Richard Farmer.

In 2001, then Prime Minister John Howard led his conservative government to victory at elections solely on the policy of tougher border protection and stopping boatpeople.

Reuters

Related Article:

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says boat was not spotted before it reached Christmas Island