Beazley seeks Asian help on boat people
Beazley seeks Asian help on boat people
Agencies, Sydney
Australia's opposition Labor leader Kim Beazley pledged on Tuesday a two-pronged policy to combat people smuggling involving diplomatic missions to Asia, in particular Indonesia, and the creation of a coast guard.
Beazley said that if he won office at a general election on Nov. 10 he would send his new foreign minister to Jakarta within 10 days to seek Indonesian help in stemming the flow of boat people on Australia's remote northern coast.
"And I will make Jakarta my first overseas destination as prime minister," Beazley told reporters.
A ministerial mission to Jakarta in September led by the current Australian foreign minister, Alexander Downer, failed to stop hundreds of boat people arriving in recent weeks.
Beazley said Labor would put the issue of people smuggling on the regional Asian agenda through bilateral missions and at the ASEAN Regional Security Forum.
"Efforts to combat people smuggling must be pursued on a regional basis," Beazley said in his hometown of Perth in Western Australia.
He said an Australian diplomat would be appointed to seek regional co-operation against people smugglers and to explore the possibility of a regional anti-people smuggling summit involving heads of government and law agencies.
Beazley said he would press Jakarta to accept the return of vessels and boat people arriving on Australian shores from Indonesia.
He said he would spend A$10 million over four years on technical support for Indonesian law enforcement and maritime surveillance against people smugglers and increase funding for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Indonesia.
In August, Jakarta refused to accept a freighter carrying hundreds of people, mostly Afghans, despite the fact they had been rescued from a sinking ferry in the Indian Ocean covered by its search and rescue area.
Prime Minister John Howard's refusal to allow the Afghans and subsequent boat people to land on Australian soil has given him a major boost in opinion polls as he seeks a third term in office.
Howard's conservative government is maintaining its strong lead in the campaign for Nov. 10 national elections, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
The Australian navy now intercepts boat people before they enter territorial waters and ships them to the Pacific island state of Nauru for processing. The policy has cost Howard's conservative government hundreds of millions of dollars.
Beazley criticized the policy, saying the only long-term solution lay in co-operation with Jakarta to prevent boat people using Indonesia to reach Australia.