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| U.N. ‘Troubled’ by Australia’s New Policy on Asylum Seekers | U.N. ‘Troubled’ by Australia’s New Policy on Asylum Seekers |
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| SYDNEY, Australia — The United Nations said Friday that it was “troubled” by Australia’s new policy to stem the tide of people undertaking dangerous boat journeys to seek asylum there, the latest in a series of public criticisms of the government’s tough new deterrence-based approach. | SYDNEY, Australia — The United Nations said Friday that it was “troubled” by Australia’s new policy to stem the tide of people undertaking dangerous boat journeys to seek asylum there, the latest in a series of public criticisms of the government’s tough new deterrence-based approach. |
| The majority of asylum seekers are people from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka who set out in crowded, often unsafe vessels for Christmas Island, a remote territory in the Indian Ocean that is Australia’s closest point to Indonesia. | |
| Under the new system, announced a week ago by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, those arriving in Australia by boat – a number that is now in the thousands annually – are to be sent to refugee-processing centers in nearby Papua New Guinea. If they are found to be entitled to refugee status under the United Nations convention on refugees, they will be resettled there, but they forfeit any right to seek asylum in Australia. | Under the new system, announced a week ago by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, those arriving in Australia by boat – a number that is now in the thousands annually – are to be sent to refugee-processing centers in nearby Papua New Guinea. If they are found to be entitled to refugee status under the United Nations convention on refugees, they will be resettled there, but they forfeit any right to seek asylum in Australia. |
| The issue of asylum seekers is among the most contentious in Australian politics, and Mr. Rudd is facing a tough road to re-election in a national vote to be held within weeks. | The issue of asylum seekers is among the most contentious in Australian politics, and Mr. Rudd is facing a tough road to re-election in a national vote to be held within weeks. |
| In a statement released Friday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that it recognized Australia was operating in an environment made difficult by the sheer volume of new boat arrivals and the need to prevent the resulting spike in deaths at sea. Still, it said that it was “troubled by the current absence of adequate protection standards and safeguards” for asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea, and that its own review of Australia’s policy had found “significant shortcomings.” | In a statement released Friday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that it recognized Australia was operating in an environment made difficult by the sheer volume of new boat arrivals and the need to prevent the resulting spike in deaths at sea. Still, it said that it was “troubled by the current absence of adequate protection standards and safeguards” for asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea, and that its own review of Australia’s policy had found “significant shortcomings.” |
| “These include a lack of national capacity and expertise in processing, and poor physical conditions within open-ended, mandatory and arbitrary detention settings,” the statement said. “This can be harmful to the physical and psychosocial well-being of transferees, particularly families and children.” | “These include a lack of national capacity and expertise in processing, and poor physical conditions within open-ended, mandatory and arbitrary detention settings,” the statement said. “This can be harmful to the physical and psychosocial well-being of transferees, particularly families and children.” |
| Those concerns are likely to carry added resonance in light of allegations of abuse at an Australian-run detention center on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, which were broadcast this week on “Dateline,” a program on the Australian television network SBS. A former detention center employee, who resigned in April, described to “Dateline” what he said were the rape and torture of detainees at the center. | Those concerns are likely to carry added resonance in light of allegations of abuse at an Australian-run detention center on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, which were broadcast this week on “Dateline,” a program on the Australian television network SBS. A former detention center employee, who resigned in April, described to “Dateline” what he said were the rape and torture of detainees at the center. |
| In its statement Friday, the United Nations agency said that the mistreatment of foreign refugees would continue to be a major problem in Papua New Guinea once they entered into the community. | |
| “It is clear that sustainable integration of non-Melanesian refugees in the socioeconomic and cultural life of P.N.G. will raise formidable challenges and protection questions,” it said. | “It is clear that sustainable integration of non-Melanesian refugees in the socioeconomic and cultural life of P.N.G. will raise formidable challenges and protection questions,” it said. |
| Officials with Mr. Rudd’s government could not immediately be reached for comment on the United Nations statement. | |
| The policy is also facing criticism for the limited effect it appears to be having on the number of people attempting the journey by sea. On Thursday, the number of people known to have died earlier this week when a boat packed with more than 200 asylum seekers capsized in heavy seas near Indonesia rose to nine from three, according to the Indonesian Navy. | The policy is also facing criticism for the limited effect it appears to be having on the number of people attempting the journey by sea. On Thursday, the number of people known to have died earlier this week when a boat packed with more than 200 asylum seekers capsized in heavy seas near Indonesia rose to nine from three, according to the Indonesian Navy. |
| A decade ago, under Prime Minister John Howard, asylum seekers were taken to nearby island nations for a lengthy processing intended to remove the incentive for claiming asylum on Australia’s shores. Mr. Rudd abandoned that policy when he became prime minister for the first time in 2007, which led to a surge in the number of arrivals. | A decade ago, under Prime Minister John Howard, asylum seekers were taken to nearby island nations for a lengthy processing intended to remove the incentive for claiming asylum on Australia’s shores. Mr. Rudd abandoned that policy when he became prime minister for the first time in 2007, which led to a surge in the number of arrivals. |
| In 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard opened new offshore detention centers in Nauru and on Manus Island, but they lacked the capacity to handle the deluge of arrivals and did little to discourage them. | In 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard opened new offshore detention centers in Nauru and on Manus Island, but they lacked the capacity to handle the deluge of arrivals and did little to discourage them. |
Joe Cochrane contributed reporting from Jakarta, Indonesia. | Joe Cochrane contributed reporting from Jakarta, Indonesia. |