Australia to return illegal immigrants to RI

Australia to return illegal immigrants to RI

Reuters, Canberra

A group of 15 illegal Indonesian immigrants discovered on a
remote Australian island last Thursday will be returned home, the
Australian government said on Monday.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the six men and nine
women told authorities they paid a people smuggler up to A$1,000
(US$760) each to bring them to Australia but were left stranded
on Ashmore Reef, 840 km west of the country's northern tip.

This is the third group of would-be refugees to reach
Australian territory since the conservative government cracked
down hard on boatpeople in 2001, deploying the navy to intercept
and divert boats to nearby Pacific islands.

"The people in this group were clearly the victims of an
unscrupulous people smuggler who promised to take them to
Australia where they could get work apparently picking fruit in
orchards," Downer told parliament.

"Those people are now being transported to Christmas Island
and they will, from there, be returned to Indonesia, either by
sea or by air."

Australia, as part of its drive to deter people smugglers, has
excluded Ashmore Reef from its migration zone so any asylum
seekers arriving there have no access to its legal system.

Australia has taken a hard line against people smuggling since
organized gangs began using neighboring Indonesia as a stepping
stone for Middle Eastern and Afghan asylum seekers trying to
reach the continent.