Govt attacked on 'asylum' boat issue

Amnesty International: deeply concerned with the government's policy of taking boat people to Christmas Island.

Human rights groups have attacked the federal government over its treatment of a group of suspected asylum seekers intercepted en route to Australia.

An Australian naval patrol boat intercepted a vessel carrying 14 people near the Ashmore Islands, 320 kilometres off Australia's north-west coast, on Monday.

The group, including one woman, was being transferred Tuesday to Christmas Island for processing. The boat is the first to be intercepted off the coast of Australia this year.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans said it appeared the boat had come from Indonesia but it was unlikely those on board were illegal fishers.

"We haven't identified their country of origin as yet. They'll be processed and interviewed on Christmas Island and it'll become clearer then," Senator Evans said.

Amnesty International said it was deeply concerned with the government's policy of taking boat people to Christmas Island.

"The detrimental impact of detaining individuals in isolated centres has been well documented and Amnesty International remains concerned for the physical and mental health of any asylum seeker taken to Christmas Island," refugee spokesman Graham Thom said.

"It is completely inappropriate to treat this group differently from other asylum seekers and it is certainly not in keeping with our international obligations to protect people who are fleeing persecution."

Senator Evans said people were continuing to seek refugee status due to ongoing unrest in the Middle East.

"There's pressure around the world with refugees seeking to find asylum, large numbers of people particularly out of Afghanistan and Iraq because of the troubled situations there."

Senator Evans said the federal government was working closely with the Indonesian government to strengthen border control and stamp out people smuggling.

Project SafeCom spokesman Jack Smit attacked Senator Evans for his "bullying" comments on border protection.

"It's time Minister Evans stops acting like (former prime minister) John Howard, and it's time he stops uttering the nonsense lines of the widely reviled former immigration minister Philip Ruddock."

Related:

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1000 refugees receive protection, not detention

MOHAMMAD DAWLAT HUSSAIN is among 1000 refugees who can apply for family members to join them in Australia after the Federal Government scrapped temporary protection visas in Tuesday night's budget.

Previously, asylum seekers found to be in genuine need of protection under Australia's international obligations were confined to temporary protection visas, or TPVs, which restricted their rights.

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans, yesterday said these people would gain permanent residency.

"The previous government just left people in detention to rot," Mr Evans said.

Of the 11,000 people issued temporary visas by the Coalition, 9800 were eventually granted permanent protection.

"The only impact of the policy was to hurt these people in the meantime," Mr Evans said.

Refugees on TPVs had no guarantee of staying in Australia and were banned from travelling to their home country. They could not bring spouses and children to Australia and had limited access to settlement services such as English lessons, employment advice and income help.

Mr Hussain, 28, said the abolition was a relief to himself and his sister, who had not seen her husband, the father of her three children, for seven years.

"It's just lifting a lot of weight for me because it used to be very time-consuming and stressful to apply for permanent residency," Mr Hussain said.

The darkest aspect of his three-year detention on the Pacific island of Nauru was not knowing when or if his term would end.

Mr Hussain fled the Taliban in Afghanistan in 1999 and stayed in Iran for two years before travelling by boat to Ashmore Reef, off the northwest coast of Australia.

"We are finally welcome within Australian society," he said.

The advocacy group, Refugee Council of Australia, also applauded the decision.

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