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| Australia Adopts Tough Measures to Curb Asylum Seekers | Australia Adopts Tough Measures to Curb Asylum Seekers |
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| SYDNEY, Australia — Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia moved on Friday to curtail the record number of people trying the dangerous boat journey to claim asylum in the country, pledging that no one who arrives by boat without a visa will ever be granted permission to settle in Australia. | SYDNEY, Australia — Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia moved on Friday to curtail the record number of people trying the dangerous boat journey to claim asylum in the country, pledging that no one who arrives by boat without a visa will ever be granted permission to settle in Australia. |
| Under the tough policy, all asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat will be sent to a refugee-processing center in nearby Papua New Guinea, which like Australia is a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention. If the asylum seekers are found to be genuine refugees, they will be resettled in Papua New Guinea, but forfeit any right to asylum in Australia. | Under the tough policy, all asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat will be sent to a refugee-processing center in nearby Papua New Guinea, which like Australia is a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention. If the asylum seekers are found to be genuine refugees, they will be resettled in Papua New Guinea, but forfeit any right to asylum in Australia. |
| Thousands of asylum seekers fly into Indonesia every year, where they pay smugglers to ferry them in often unsafe, overcrowded vessels to Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean that is its nearest point to Indonesia. Accidents at sea have killed more than 600 people since late 2009, and a long-term solution has bedeviled successive Australian governments going back more than a decade. | Thousands of asylum seekers fly into Indonesia every year, where they pay smugglers to ferry them in often unsafe, overcrowded vessels to Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean that is its nearest point to Indonesia. Accidents at sea have killed more than 600 people since late 2009, and a long-term solution has bedeviled successive Australian governments going back more than a decade. |
| Mr. Rudd’s announcement came on the same day that Indonesia announced it would stop issuing visas on arrival to Iranians, many of whom use the country as a transit point before seeking asylum in Australia. Foreign Minister Bob Carr of Australia, who has recently argued that Iranians who seek asylum by boat are economic migrants and not genuine refugees, said in an interview last week that Australia would be asking Indonesia for changes like those announced Friday. | Mr. Rudd’s announcement came on the same day that Indonesia announced it would stop issuing visas on arrival to Iranians, many of whom use the country as a transit point before seeking asylum in Australia. Foreign Minister Bob Carr of Australia, who has recently argued that Iranians who seek asylum by boat are economic migrants and not genuine refugees, said in an interview last week that Australia would be asking Indonesia for changes like those announced Friday. |
| Michael Tene, an Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman, denied on Friday that the visa change regarding Iranians was the result of a request from Mr. Carr. | Michael Tene, an Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman, denied on Friday that the visa change regarding Iranians was the result of a request from Mr. Carr. |
| Mr. Rudd, who is facing a hotly contested federal election within weeks, acknowledged that the policy was harsh and likely to face legal challenges. But he said that something had to be done to protect the lives of asylum seekers and to restore the integrity of the country’s borders. | Mr. Rudd, who is facing a hotly contested federal election within weeks, acknowledged that the policy was harsh and likely to face legal challenges. But he said that something had to be done to protect the lives of asylum seekers and to restore the integrity of the country’s borders. |
| “Australians have had enough of seeing people drowning in the waters to our north,” Mr. Rudd said at a news conference. “Our country has had enough of people smugglers exploiting asylum seekers and seeing them drown on the high seas.” | “Australians have had enough of seeing people drowning in the waters to our north,” Mr. Rudd said at a news conference. “Our country has had enough of people smugglers exploiting asylum seekers and seeing them drown on the high seas.” |
| “As of today asylum seekers who come here by boat without a visa will never be settled in Australia,” he said. | “As of today asylum seekers who come here by boat without a visa will never be settled in Australia,” he said. |
| No issue looms larger over Australian politics than how to deal with asylum seekers, and it is unclear whether Mr. Rudd’s tough new policy will score him any political points. One thing, however, is for certain: The crossings involving fatalities have continued without any sign of abatement. On Wednesday the government announced that a boat carrying around 150 asylum seekers had capsized in the Indian Ocean, killing four people. An infant was killed in a similar accident the previous week. | No issue looms larger over Australian politics than how to deal with asylum seekers, and it is unclear whether Mr. Rudd’s tough new policy will score him any political points. One thing, however, is for certain: The crossings involving fatalities have continued without any sign of abatement. On Wednesday the government announced that a boat carrying around 150 asylum seekers had capsized in the Indian Ocean, killing four people. An infant was killed in a similar accident the previous week. |
| Under the so-called Pacific Solution of Prime Minister John Howard a decade ago, asylum seekers were transported to nearby island nations like Papua New Guinea and Nauru for a lengthy processing intended to remove the incentive for claiming asylum on Australia’s shores. The policy, which was roundly criticized by human rights advocates, was abandoned when Mr. Rudd became prime minister for the first time in 2007. | |
| But Mr. Rudd’s change of policy backfired spectacularly, leading to an explosion in the number of arrivals from a mere 161 in 2008 to 11,599 in just the first three quarters of 2012-13, the latest period for which official statistics have been published. The majority of arrivals are from Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka. | But Mr. Rudd’s change of policy backfired spectacularly, leading to an explosion in the number of arrivals from a mere 161 in 2008 to 11,599 in just the first three quarters of 2012-13, the latest period for which official statistics have been published. The majority of arrivals are from Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka. |
| In 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard effectively revived the Pacific Solution, opening offshore detention centers in Nauru and on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. However, those two centers could not accommodate the steady stream of new arrivals and Australia is now facing a backlog of some 20,000 people awaiting processing. | |
| David Manne, a prominent human rights lawyer who succeeded in blocking a similar proposal in 2011 to process migrants in Malaysia, questioned the legality of the move announced Friday, which he called a “fundamental abrogation of Australia’s responsibilities.” He warned that Mr. Rudd’s domestic political maneuvering could unintentionally set a precedent that threatens the entire global framework for protecting refugees. | David Manne, a prominent human rights lawyer who succeeded in blocking a similar proposal in 2011 to process migrants in Malaysia, questioned the legality of the move announced Friday, which he called a “fundamental abrogation of Australia’s responsibilities.” He warned that Mr. Rudd’s domestic political maneuvering could unintentionally set a precedent that threatens the entire global framework for protecting refugees. |
| “If all of the other 147 signatory countries were to embark upon a similar plan, the international protection framework would collapse,” he said in an interview. | “If all of the other 147 signatory countries were to embark upon a similar plan, the international protection framework would collapse,” he said in an interview. |
| Mr. Rudd said that there would be no cap on the number of people who could be sent to Papua New Guinea under the new agreement, but that the policy would be re-examined after one year. It was not immediately clear how much it would cost to build adequate facilities in Papua New Guinea, nor did Mr. Rudd say how much of that cost would be shouldered by Australia. | Mr. Rudd said that there would be no cap on the number of people who could be sent to Papua New Guinea under the new agreement, but that the policy would be re-examined after one year. It was not immediately clear how much it would cost to build adequate facilities in Papua New Guinea, nor did Mr. Rudd say how much of that cost would be shouldered by Australia. |
| Given the success of the opposition leader Tony Abbott’s use of the governing Labor Party’s failed refugee policies as a cudgel, and with an election approaching, the political calculus may prove more relevant than the fiscal. | Given the success of the opposition leader Tony Abbott’s use of the governing Labor Party’s failed refugee policies as a cudgel, and with an election approaching, the political calculus may prove more relevant than the fiscal. |
| The new asylum policy appears to be part of a concerted effort by Mr. Rudd to nullify Mr. Abbott’s main lines of attack ahead of the election. Earlier in the week he announced an end to another of Ms. Gillard’s unpopular programs — a tax on carbon emissions of which Mr. Abbott was highly critical. | The new asylum policy appears to be part of a concerted effort by Mr. Rudd to nullify Mr. Abbott’s main lines of attack ahead of the election. Earlier in the week he announced an end to another of Ms. Gillard’s unpopular programs — a tax on carbon emissions of which Mr. Abbott was highly critical. |
| But many have been highly critical of conditions at the Manus Island camp, and Friday’s announcement immediately drew the ire of rights groups. Last month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued a report that called conditions there “below international standards for the reception and treatment of asylum-seekers” and cited the “harsh” living arrangements for men in particular. | But many have been highly critical of conditions at the Manus Island camp, and Friday’s announcement immediately drew the ire of rights groups. Last month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued a report that called conditions there “below international standards for the reception and treatment of asylum-seekers” and cited the “harsh” living arrangements for men in particular. |
| “The new plans to resettle all asylum seekers that are found to be refugees in PNG shows not only a complete disregard for asylum seekers but absolute contempt for legal and moral obligations,” Graeme McGregor, Amnesty International Australia’s refugee campaign coordinator, said in a statement. | “The new plans to resettle all asylum seekers that are found to be refugees in PNG shows not only a complete disregard for asylum seekers but absolute contempt for legal and moral obligations,” Graeme McGregor, Amnesty International Australia’s refugee campaign coordinator, said in a statement. |
| “Mark this day in history as the day Australia decided to turn its back on the world’s most vulnerable people, closed the door and threw away the key,” he said. | “Mark this day in history as the day Australia decided to turn its back on the world’s most vulnerable people, closed the door and threw away the key,” he said. |
Joe Cochrane contributed reporting from | Joe Cochrane contributed reporting from Jakarta, Indonesia. |
| This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: July 19, 2013 | |
An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to the status of John Howard when the so-called Pacific Solution went into effect. Mr. Howard was the prime minister at the time, not a former prime minister. |