LNP Asylum policy has Failed....no stopping the boats now

[topsidesoul]

Turn back the boats eh?

Expect another in days and Abbotts promises to be worth nothing.

Hear that silence?....it's the people who made this a hot issue  months before the election....and declared a stop to the boats with a new PM......they are silent. as expected.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-government-ends-asylum-seeker-standoff-...

Tony Abbott's government capitulated to Indonesia on Friday night, ordering a Customs boat with up to 63 refugees on board to go to Christmas Island.

An asylum seeker in Indonesia contacted Fairfax Media early on Saturday to say the boat had reached the Australian territory on Saturday morning after Immigration Minister Scott Morrison failed to convince Indonesia to accept their return.

"I have friends on the boat," the asylum seeker said in a text message, "and yesterday he says, 'My boat [has] reached.'"

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The source said the people on board were from Pakistan and Afghanistan, and had been organised by people smugglers called Muzahir and Sher Ali.

The arrival is a loss of face for the Coalition, which vowed before the election that Australian authorities would not act as a taxi service for refugees. It may also encourage other people smuggling syndicates to try their hand.

[cherry*135]

First word to last word. ... it is FAIL for Tony Abbott's we will turn back the boats... why he keeps saying that I don't know when Indonesia has always made it quite clear it isn't going to happen.

Aren't political discussions of the day, usually about the party that is in Govt at present? Their decisions affect the rest of us, not the oppositions.

The LNP are leading (?) the country at present.

[icyfroth]

nah...ya got nuthin'

[cherry*135]

icy.. I am quite happy if you think i got nuthin. You are not the only person reading this thread.

Jakarta News (English version)

Govt stands its ground on asylum standoff

10 November 2013

Hikmahanto Juwana of the University of Indonesia (UI) has said that Australia’s decision to end the standoff was a welcome one. “It is very positive for Indonesia. It shows that our stern stance worked and that Indonesia will not bow to Australia’s policy as such,” he said. He added that Indonesia was not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, whereas Australia was.

Indonesia has expressed concern over Abbott’s “tow-back” plan, which involves the Australian navy intercepting and forcing back to Indonesia boats crowded with undocumented migrants heading to Australia. 

The government said on Friday that out of six asylum-seeker boats rescued by Australian vessels recently, Indonesia declined to receive the last three requests for transfer, which happened between September and November.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has made it clear that Indonesia had never agreed to Abbott’s plan, saying that Canberra should “send the asylum seekers to their detention centers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea and not to Indonesia.”

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/11/10/govt-stands-its-ground-asylum-standoff.html

[donnashuggy]

twitter post of the day:

Michelle Grattan ‏@michellegrattan8 Nov

pretty bad when Indonesian gov is more open with info about the boat stand off than aus gov

[kengillard]

I can't see why Australia should send "our" asylum seekers to Nauru etc. when all/most of them arrive from their countires VIA INDONESIA?????  Sure Indonesia should bear some responsibility for having these boat people leave from their shores?  and continue to ALLOW them to do so?

[cherry*135]

Abbott's boat policy fails test

Nov 10, 2013

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's policy to turn back asylum seekers has failed a significant test, with 63 boat people arriving on Christmas Island after the government blinked in a mid-ocean standoff with Indonesia.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbotts-boat-policy-fails-test-20131109-2x8w5....

[kengillard]

HO HO

This is getting serious.  don't like this much at all  they're too close for comfort. Indonesia i.e.

[icyfroth]

With all due respect, and in light of previous support from Australia, Indonesia should be aligning itself with Australia in the halt to the people smuggling trade instead of balking the Australian government at every turn.

One wonders where their loyalties lie.

[cherry*135]

Indonesia does not have to bow to one term Tony's dream ideas re turning back the boats. What other issues have they baulked on?

The Indonesian's aren't impressed with Aust spying on them either.

Note this as well: He added that Indonesia was not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, whereas Australia was.

[icyfroth]

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@am*3 wrote:

Indonesia does not have to bow to one term Tony's dream ideas re turning back the boats. What other issues have they baulked on?

Try the live animal export issue.

The Indonesian's aren't impressed with Aust spying on them either.

I'm sure nobody's impressed with anybody spying on them, Australia included. The US seems to have perfected it to an artform which has been exposed thanks to Edward Snowden. It's a bit like Keystone Cops!

Note this as well: He added that Indonesia was not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, whereas Australia was.

No reason for Indonesia to go against it's nearest neighbour and an important ally. Maybe they more important and better paying allies elsewhere.

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