By Jill Fraser
MELBOURNE, Australia
A boatload of Vietnamese asylum seekers sits somewhere off the coast of Western Australia, having succeeded in penetrating Australia's recently reinforced strict border regime.
Apart from these sketchy details, all else is supposition as Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott remains resolutely unflinching in his refusal to divulge specifics.
At a Prime Ministerial press conference Tuesday afternoon in Canberra, reporters were confronted with a tight-lipped Abbott who wouldn’t satiate their requests for information with even a morsel.
One journalist asked whether the government was negotiating with Vietnam over returning the asylum seekers, and whether Border Force – which combines customs and immigration operations – had been questioned about how the boat snuck through a few weeks after the new department was announced.
“Can I repeat what has been the standard rule of this Government – we do not comment on operational matters on the water,” Abbott retorted. “We do not discuss things in ways which would give aid and comfort to the people smugglers. This has been an iron law of this Government and I’m certainly not going to change it today.”
Refugee Action Coalition spokesperson Ian Rintoul told Anadolu Agency that his sources have told him that there are at least 30 people, including some women and children, on board the boat, which left Vietnam on July 2.
The activist organization has called on the coalition government to bring the Vietnamese asylum seekers off Dampier in Western Australia's North West region to shore and to allow them to make protection applications.
“We know from past actions, the government will likely attempt to return the asylum seekers to Vietnam,” Rintoul said.
The boat was first spotted off Dampier by the crew of an oil tanker Monday morning.
The ABC reports that water police were called in to help locate the boat.
Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett said he believed naval vessels had taken over the handling of the boat from local police.
"The state police boat has been assisting the Commonwealth, I think their role is pretty well complete now and the Commonwealth naval vessels will take over," he said.
Human rights lawyer George Newhouse expressed his concern to Anadolu Agency on Tuesday that the government will return the asylum seekers to Vietnam.
“I’m very concerned about the individuals on that vessel particularly if they are fleeing persecution,” said Newhouse, who in 2010 represented eight Tamil asylum seekers.
After complaining to the Australian Human Rights Commission regarding the suspension of the processing of their visas, all eight have been processed and released.
“Vietnam does not have a good track record regarding human rights, and if the passengers on that vessel have a real fear of persecution or harm or even death, then they should not be returned to Vietnam,” he underlined. “The government has other options if they don’t wish to allow them into Australia.”
Referring to 46 Vietnamese asylum seekers who were intercepted and returned to Vietnam in April, Rintoul said there are reports that the repatriated adults were detained and questioned.
“Some men are reported to still be in prison, and some children are not allowed to attend school,” he said.
“Our concern is that the government will screen-out these asylum seekers and deny them the right to have their asylum claims properly considered,” the lawyer stressed. “The secrecy that the government seeks to impose on so-called 'operational matter' is designed to prevent scrutiny of the abuse of asylum seekers' human rights.”
