Another refugee boat intercepted

Another boatload of asylum seekers has been intercepted off Australia's northwest
coast.
The vessel, carrying 54 passengers and two crew, was intercepted on Saturday before
it could make it to Australian waters.
It was intercepted in international waters, 90 nautical miles southwest of Ashmore
Island, approximately 900km from Darwin, by the Royal Australian Navy patrol boat
HMAS Albany.
The people on the boat voluntarily transferred to HMAS Albany, Home Affairs Minister
Bob Debus said in a statement.
It is the eighth boat of asylum seekers to approach Australian waters this year.
The group will be taken to Christmas Island where they will undergo health, security
and other checks to establish their identity and reasons for their voyage, the
statement said.
The interception came as another boatload of asylum seekers was transferred to
Christmas Island.
That boat, carrying 32 Sri Lankan men, was intercepted near Barrow Island, off the
West Australian coast, on Wednesday.
It was escorted to Christmas Island by a navy vessel and arrived as scheduled at
8.20am local time on Saturday, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said.
The seventh boat to arrive in Australian waters this year, it was intercepted less
than a week after a vessel carrying 47 asylum seekers and two crew exploded, killing
five Afghans and injuring dozens of others, on April 16.
Mr Debus said initial indications were that there were 54 passengers and two crew on
board the boat intercepted on Saturday.
A spokeswoman for Mr Debus was unable to confirm how far from Australian waters the
boat was intercepted or where the people on the boat were from.
An oil rig tender vessel had tipped off the Customs and Border Protection hotline
about the vessel.
The sighting was then confirmed by a Customs and Border Protection Command Dash 8
aircraft.
Within an hour of receiving the alert, HMAS Albany, operating under the control of
Border Protection Command, had intercepted the boat, the statement said.
It is the 15th boat to be intercepted since last August when Labor made changes to
Australia's immigration policy, including the scrapping of temporary protection
visas.
The opposition has argued that "soft" policy shift is to blame for the recent influx
of boat people, which has seen about 500 asylum seekers arrive in the last eight
months.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said the government's changes to
border protection - which gave asylum seekers an expectation they would be released
into the community before their refugee applications were processed - was
responsible for the increase in boat arrivals.
"There's new direct evidence that the government's softening stance has encouraged
the people smugglers which has led to the sharp rise in the number of boat
arrivals," she told AAP on Saturday.
"This latest boat arrival is further evidence that the government's border
protection policies have failed.
"The government must now admit that it has got it wrong on border protection.
"Boats are arriving at an increasing rate and the government is doing absolutely
nothing to prevent the escalation in the people smuggling trade."
But Mr Debus said the successful interception demonstrated the effectiveness of
Border Protection Command's surveillance.
"Our surveillance is strong and targeted and officers from Customs and Border
Protection and the Royal Australian Navy are working together to protect Australia
from unauthorised arrivals.
"The Australian government is committed to strong border security arrangements and
will continue to deal effectively and appropriately with people smugglers."
Ms Bishop again called on the government to release intelligence reports from the
Australian Federal Police and defence on border protection.
"If the government doesn't know how to solve the problem, it should release all the
intelligence reports it has received, including the Australian Federal Police report
which claimed the government's changes in policy had again made Australia a target
for people smugglers," she said.
A spokeswoman for Mr Debus said it wasn't government practice to discuss
intelligence reports.
"It's a matter of longstanding practice that governments don't release or discuss
intelligence briefs," she said.
"It was the case under the previous government as well."
Ms Bishop declined to say whether the coalition supported the reintroduction of the
Howard government's temporary protection visas for asylum seekers.
"Do you really think the people smugglers in Indonesia are watching what the
coalition are saying when we won't face another election for 18 months?" Ms Bishop
said.
The Rudd government abolished the Pacific Solution approach soon after coming to
office in 2007, where asylum seekers were processed at Nauru and Manus Island in
Papua New Guinea.