New arrivals taken to Christmas Island

Louisa 21 November 2008, 12:43PM

Twelve people are reported to have been rescued from a sinking boat close to the Western Australian Coast and are being transported by the Navy to Christmas Island. Amnesty International has no information as yet on whether these people are asylum seekers.

If they are seeking asylum Amnesty International believes the people should be transferred to mainland Australia and their applications processed here. They should be detained only for a short time whilst health, identity and security checks are conducted.

So far this year only 26 confirmed asylum seekers have been located on boats in Australian waters. The Immigration Minister, Senator Chris Evans has said current refugee policy “will allow us to maintain strong border security but also treat people with human dignity.” As Dr Graham Thom has suggested in the past, this is “a humanitarian issue and should be treated as such.”

Amnesty International believes the practice of taking people intercepted at sea to Christmas Island does not accord with the government’s current policy of treating asylum seekers with dignity. Dr Graham Thom has said recently “Individuals should not be punished simply based on their mode of arrival.” The detrimental impact on asylum seekers of being processed offshore has been well documented. Amnesty International remains concerned for the mental and physical well being of asylum seekers taken to Christmas Island. Amnesty International calls for the closure of the Christmas Island detention centre and for all asylum seekers to be treated equally.

Find out more on the last boat arrivals to be taken to Christmas Island

About the Author

This blog entry was created by Louisa and does not necessarily represent the position or opinion of Amnesty International Australia.

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