The Australian government has deployed another of its big orange lifeboats to return a group of asylum seekers to Indonesia — the sixth confirmed turn-back since the policy was enacted in December. Sources in Cisarua, where many asylum seekers gather before boarding boats, believe the 34 people onboard had left almost two weeks ago, on January 27. That timing suggest the people have been in the custody of Australian authorities for a perhaps a week before embarking on the unsinkable vessel. Advertisement Reports emerged in recent days of Australian vessels Triton and Bathurst sailing off the coast of Christmas Island, with an orange boat in tow. Indonesian media reported the boat was carrying 34 people and had landed on the west coast of Pangandaran bay, on Javas southern coast at about 8.30pm local time on Wednesday night. The area is a popular swimming spot for local tourists. Local authorities were quoted saying that as many as 21 people from Iran – two of whom are toddlers aged about 18 months – five from Bangladesh, six from Nepal and two people from Pakistan. All were now temporarily housed in police or naval facilities. When contacted for comment on Thursday afternoon, Australian Minister Scott Morrison said: 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. Its unclear why Australian authorities are keeping asylum seekers for significant periods at sea before turning them back, or embarking them on the orange boats. One group returned in mid-January told Fairfax Media they had spent days sailing around the ocean. Read more: smh.au/federal-politics/political-news/australia-turns-back-sixth-boat-carrying-asylum-seekers-20140206-323u7.html#ixzz2sp72mw7T
Posted on: Sun, 09 Feb 2014 11:28:49 +0000