Nine suspected asylum seekers found dead off Christmas Island

ABC News Updated 7 hours 4 minutes ago

Nine suspected asylum seekers are dead and a search is continuing for more people in waters off Western Australia's north coast.
A massive air and sea search is underway in the hope of finding anyone alive after a suspected asylum seeker boat sank 65 nautical miles north-west of Christmas Island.
Customs and Border Protection officials say nine people have been found dead.
It is understood 60 people were on board the vessel.
An RAAF plane spotted the submerged hull of the boat late on Friday and found bodies in the water yesterday afternoon.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has been coordinating the search since Friday morning after an irregular boat was seen heading towards the island.
The HMAS Warramunga and two merchant ships are leading the search, alongside two border protection planes and one private aircraft.
Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare has travelled to Canberra for a personal briefing on the operation.
A spokesman for Indonesia's rescue agency, Basarnas, says it has not heard about the asylum seeker boat sinking.
Didi Hamzah said he was aware of only one rescue operation, in which 100 asylum seekers were found in the water close to the Java coast by Indonesian rescuers.
He said they were located near Cilacap and are now being dealt with by Indonesian immigration authorities and the International Organisation for Migration.
Victoria Martin from the Refugees Rights Action Network says the tragedy is more evidence the Government should change its border protection policy to encourage the safe resettlement of refugees in Australia.
"Our deterrence policies are not doing what they intended to do, they are not stopping people from taking dangerous journeys here," she said.
"The Australian Government really needs to stop seeing this as a border security issue and recognise we have international obligations, over 90 per cent of people who come by boat are found to be refugees and will get permanent residence in Australia.
"Rather than spending upwards of $350,000 per person to detain people on Nauru and Manus Island, we could be looking at mechanisms that would assist in settling people throughout the region."
In a separate incident, the ABC has been told more than 70 asylum seekers were rescued from their stricken boat off Cocos Island on Thursday.
They were picked up by a tanker which is heading to Christmas Island and is expected to arrive today.
There has been a steady stream of asylum seeker boats in recent months.
The last major incident was in March when two asylum seekers died and more than 90 rescued.

ABC News Updated Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:27pm AEST
 
Hundreds of people have marched through Hobart to show their support for asylum seekers.

It was one of several marches held around the country on Saturday calling on the Federal Government to end mandatory detention.
In Hobart, marchers said they wanted detainees in the Pontville Detention Centre, on the outskirts of Hobart, to have their applications for asylum processed more quickly.
 
"There's a limit to the amount of time anybody should spend in detention, " Emily Conolon from an asylum seeker support group said.
"Especially vulnerable people like children. They need to have their claims for asylum processed while they're living in the community not behind bars."

Pontville currently holds 200 young men, many from Afghanistan.

There have been two violent incidents at the detention centre in the past month involving dozens of detainees but no-one has been seriously hurt.

PATRICK LION From: News Limited Network June 11, 2013 5:50PM

ANOTHER asylum seeker boat is feared lost en route to Australia, as stretched search authorities conduct a fifth rescue effort within a week.

The search came as Prime Minister Julia Gillard was forced to defend a decision by Border Protection Command to assist vessels in trouble instead of recovering 13 bodies discovered after last week's sinking that killed at least 55 people.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the latest vessel had been tracked by Border Protection Command since last Wednesday but had gone missing over the weekend.

Two aircraft were searching for a boat 260 nautical miles north of Cocos Islands, off the coast of WA between Australia and Sri Lanka.

An AMSA spokeswoman last night said it was unknown how many people were aboard the vessel.

"Border Protection Command contacted AMSA on Sunday because the vessel hadn't arrived," the spokeswoman said.
"We have concerns for the vessel because it is currently missing."

While refugee groups criticised the move to leave the 13 bodies from last week's tragedy in the water, Ms Gillard insisted it was a "tough" decision and dismissed suggestions that Australians bodies would have been retrieved.

``That is a very tough decision but it is an operational decision,'' Ms Gillard said.

``As Border Command has made clear, they always put the highest priority on saving lives and I think we would all understand why that's got to come first.''

But Australian Tamil Congress executive officer Bala Vigneswaran said more should have been done to retrieve the dead.
``I don't think we would have treated Australians like this,'' he said.

A new advertising campaign uses actors to warn Afghans they will be sent to Nauru or Manus Island if they travel by boat to Australia.

The push is part of a $5.4 million asylum seeker advertising budget this financial year, including adverts featuring Sri Lankan cricket stars Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga.

The $1.9 million Don't Be Sorry campaign's series of videos have had more than 600,000 views in total on YouTube since their broadcast in February.

But those featuring Muralitharan and Malinga have only attracted about 20 thousand views between them. Taxpayers paid them $3000 each to appear.

With 438,000 views, the most popular video is an Arabic version of a man warning asylum seekers not to come to Australia.
The campaign targets Sri Lankan, Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan communities in Australia who often encourage family members to come to Australia by boat.

Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor declared the campaign a success but could not provide figures showing a drop in boat arrivals because of it.

Conversely, recent months have been the biggest on record for boat arrivals..

``With more than half a million online views since its launch, the Don't Be Sorry campaign is successfully increasing awareness of the dangers and risks of coming to Australia by boat,'' Mr O'Connor's spokesman said.

Sri Lankan High Commissioner Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe said he did not consider Youtube a yardstick of popularity but he said television and other advertising had cut boat numbers from his nation.

"Popularity is not YouTube in my opinion," he said. "How much time do people have to go on YouTube?
"The number of boats coming from Sri Lanka has drastically reduced since November last year."

The irony is, while others are risking their lives and traveling the ocean in search of greener pastures, ang mga tao sa ato .....
Thanks to the generosity of the o/s Pinoy.

July 14, 2013

Authorities have called off the search for asylum seekers missing at sea after their boat sank north of Christmas Island on Friday.

A baby boy, believed to be under one-year-old, died and another eight people remain unaccounted for.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says the search and rescue operation was suspended just before 10pm last night.
Customs rescued 88 people, who have been taken to Christmas Island, and recovered the body of the infant.
Authorities were alerted on Friday morning about the sinking boat.

The asylum seekers are from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

Customs and Border Protection waited hours before directing its ship to go to the rescue of the foundering asylum seeker boat.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare revealed at a press conference in Sydney on Saturday that the first distress calls were received by the Australian Federal Police at 11.15am on Friday from a Melbourne man warning the boat with 97 people on board, believed to be from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, was in trouble north of Christmas Island.

But customs did not direct its ship, the Triton, to go to the rescue until 4.50pm. When it reached the boat five hours later, it was found stationary and taking on water.

Three Australian customs officers boarded the boat but at 10.27pm, while the Triton was still alongside together with the merchant ship the Garden City, it was hit by a large wave, took on more water and began to sink.
Rescuers worked to pull 88 people from the water and the customs officers were also saved. But
Mr Clare confirmed that the body of a boy who was less than one year old had been recovered and eight people remained missing.

The Triton took the survivors to Christmas Island on Saturday while two customs boats, a merchant ship and three aircraft continued searching for the missing.

Mr Clare said there would be an internal review of procedures, including an examination of the requests for help. But he would not comment on the delay, saying as a minister he should not be ”second guessing” border protection actions while there were still people missing.
Former Australian ambassador and author Tony Kevin questioned ”why boats have to overturn and babies have to drown before Border Protection takes its rescue responsibilities seriously”.

”This is the latest in a long series of highly questionable deaths at sea after Australian authorities have, in many cases, detected and even intercepted asylum seeker boats. It reflects growing indifference to asylum seekers losing their lives at sea and a growing brutalisation of our practices,” Mr Kevin said.

Speaking at a press conference in Brisbane on Saturday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the tragedy
”underlines the absolute importance for Australia to continue to adjust its policies to meet changing circumstances in the region and in the world when it comes to border security”.

Mr Clare said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority requested assistance from customs at 12.30pm on Friday and just after 3pm the authority put out a broadcast to any ships in the area to go to the assistance of the asylum seeker boat.
Mr Clare said customs did not direct its ships to go north until 4.30pm. Just minutes later, at 4.40pm, the federal police received calls from people on the boat saying it was disabled and taking on water, and at 4.50pm customs directed the Triton to go to the rescue.

With CAMERON ATFIELD, AAP

Source: http://www.theage.com.au/national/deadly-delay-in-boat-rescue-20130713-2px5r.html#ixzz2YzmkKwtP

The irony is, while others are risking their lives and traveling the ocean in search of greener pastures, ang mga tao sa ato .....
Thanks to the generosity of the o/s Pinoy.

News.com.au by CANDACE SUTTON July 08, 2013 9:33AM

DO you believe that thousands of illegal boat people are swamping our shores in unprecedented numbers and threatening Australian jobs and the economy?
 
You wouldn't be the only person to do so - and you'll be hearing more about it as politicians jockey for your vote ahead of the federal election.

Asylum seekers arriving on boats in Australian waters is likely to be one of the top issues debated throughout the election campaign.

News.com.au explains 10 boat-people myths.

Myth 1: We are being swamped
REALITY: The number of people arriving in Australia to claim asylum jumped by more than a third last year to 15,800 people, driven by an increase in arrivals from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Australia resettles the third largest number of refugees of any country per capita, but actual Australia's asylum seeker numbers, while politically sensitive, remain numerically small. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says Australia receives about three per cent of the total asylum claims made in industrialised countries around the world and, "by comparison, asylum levels in Australia continue to remain below those recorded by many other industrialised and non-industrialised countries".

Myth 2: We're a magnet compared to other countries
REALITY: Nearly half a million - 493,000 - asylum claims were lodged in industrialised countries last year, the second highest number on record after 2003, as war, civil strife, political repression and sectarian violence continue to force movements of populations across borders. Europe received 355,000 asylum seeker claims, while North America had 103,000. In particular, conflict in Syria has prompted a new mass wave of refugees fleeing that country. Afghanistan alone has a diaspora of more than 2.7 million refugees across 71 countries, but more than 95 per cent are in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran.

Myth 3: We take more asylum seekers because we're a rich, First World country
REALITY: According to Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, the reverse is true. "The burden of helping the world's forcibly displaced people is starkly uneven," he said. "Poor countries host vastly more displaced people than wealthier ones. While anti-refugee sentiment is heard loudest in industrialised countries, developing nations host 80 per cent of the world's refugees."

Myth 4: They're illegal, queue jumping undesirables
REALITY: Asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat are neither engaging in illegal activity, nor are they immigrants. The UN Refugee Convention (to which Australia is a signatory) recognises that refugees have a right to enter a country for the purposes of seeking asylum, regardless of how they arrive or whether they hold valid travel or identity documents. Australian law also permits unauthorised entry into Australia for the purposes of seeking asylum. Asylum seekers do not break any Australian laws simply by arriving on boats or without authorisation. Australia has a proud history of boat people and other asylum seekers becoming good citizens.

Myth 5: Most asylum seekers come by boat
REALITY: Statistics from 2008 showed at least 13 asylum seekers arrive through Australian airports daily, more than 32 times the number of boat people supposedly ''flooding'' across our maritime borders in that year. A total of 4768 ''plane people'', more than 96 per cent of applicants for refugee status, arrived in that year on legitimate tourist, business and other visas - compared with 161 who arrived by boat during the same period. While boat numbers have increased, Australian Government statistics from the first quarter of 2013 showed more than 90 per cent of asylum seekers who arrived by boat were found to be genuine refugees. In comparison, those who arrived by plane - despite being eligible for release into the community and not having to face years of detention on Nauru or Manus Island - were almost twice as likely to be rejected as refugees. The figure continued a long-term trend of high approval rates for people arriving by boat, with 93.5 per cent being found to be refugees in 2010-11 and 91 per cent in 2011-12.

Myth 6: Asylum seekers are taking our jobs
REALITY: The Federal Government released 16,000 asylum seekers into the community as they wait for their refugee claims to be processed. They receive about $220 a week from Centrelink, most of which goes towards rent and food, but they are on bridging visas which stipulate that they're not allowed to get jobs. Nearly half of those asylum seekers are subject to the government's "no advantage" rule, which means they could be in this limbo for many years. Most asylum seekers want to work and will take jobs other Australians don't want to do, report refugee agencies, but their visa conditions make work illegal. Refugee groups say that barring foreign migrants from the workforce could create an underclass, but they also reject the Federal Opposition's suggestion of a "work for the dole scheme".

Myth 7: People from war torn countries cause problems
REALITY: According to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the number of settlers - people entitled to permanent residence, including people arriving in Australia on humanitarian programs - between July 2010 and June 2011 came from more than 200 countries and totalled 127,460.

Most were born in one of the following four countries:
• New Zealand (20.2 per cent)
• China (11.5 per cent)
• United Kingdom (8.6 per cent)
• India (8.3 per cent)

Myth 8: They don't assimilate or contribute
REALITY: Refugees have been coming to Australia for decades and the first big wave of boat people, from Vietnam in the 1970s, have proven to be successful migrants who have assimilated and added much to Australian society. After surviving perilous journeys by their courage and strength, these people epitomise the qualities admired and rewarded in Australian society.

Historically, refugees have contributed to the economic, civil and social fabric of Australian life and their success can be found in all fields of endeavour and marked by their presence on the New Year and Queen's birthday honours lists.

Myth 9: Numbers are booming because we lack tough border protection policies
REALITY: In 2007, the total population of asylum seekers, refugees and internationally displaced persons of concern to the UNHCR was estimated at 31.7 million people. By the end of 2011, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide exceeded 42 million and the number of asylum applications in 2011 was also the highest for almost a decade. The reason for the increase in numbers represents the upsurge in people affected by affected by war, military and social upheaval and human rights abuses, which is reflected in the fact Afghanistan continues to provide the most asylum seekers of any country in the world, with 36,600 last year, followed by the Syrian Arab Republic, Serbia, China and Pakistan. According to the Refugee Council of Australia, "most people do not wish to leave their homes, families, friends and everything they know and hold dear. They do so as a last resort, to escape persecution and find safety and security for themselves and their families"

Myth 10: We can just turn the boats back
REALITY: While this is the current subject of political debate between the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, (who says we can't) and the Federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, (who says we can) the truth is that wherever they come from, most boat people use Indonesia as a launching point for Australian waters. Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has indicated towing boats back into Indonesian waters is not an option and it is likely a regional summit will be held to discuss a joint solution for the issue of the maritime trade of asylum seekers.

The number of asylum-seeker boats coming to Australia has increased over the past year, and so has debate about the issue. Here is a series of facts and figures about this controversial topic.

Many statistics are only released mid year in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's Annual Report. The most recent is for 2011/12.

As of January 31, 2013, about 28 per cent (2178) of the 7875 people in immigration detention were residing in community-based accommodation, and increase from the approximately 20 per cent at June 30 of last year.

By April 4, 2013, these numbers had fallen to 4,737 people in detention (including 2,399 minors).

4,319 of the people in detention were irregular maritime arrivals, and of those, 2,778 resided in community accommodation.
Community detention is available for unaccompanied children and for families deemed by the Department of Immigration 'vulnerable' while their asylum claims are assessed.

Asylum seekers in community detention reside in the community without the need to be escorted, but must report regularly to the Department of Immigration. They do not have the same rights as other Australians, such as the right to study and to work.

WHO IS POPULATING AUSTRALIA'S DETENTION CENTRES?
In 2013, as of April 10, there were 75 irregular maritime arrivals (boats) carrying 5031 passengers.
The number of irregular maritime arrivals in December 2012 and January 2013 were down compared to the preceding 11 months, however they still made up the vast majority of people held in detention.

As at January 30, 2013, the number of people in immigration detention who arrived by air or boat -- at any time -- was 7569 and made up about 96 per cent of the immigration detention population.

Visa overstayers or condition breachers were the next largest group at 305.

At the end of January, 2013 the 7875 people were held in one of three types of immigration detention:
- 4562 people in a mainland immigration detention -- including detention centres, residential housing, transit accommodation or alternative places of detention -- (3549 men, 367 women, 646 children)
 - 1135 people in detention or alternative place of detention on Christmas Island and Cocos Keeling Island (555 men, 226 women, and 354 children),
- 2178 people in a residence determination to live in the community (781 men, 474 women, and 923 children),

During 2011-12, while 12,967 people were TAKEN into immigration detention, 19,370 people were HELD in immigration detention during 2011-12.
 
Out of the 19,370 detained people, 14,438 (or 74.5 per cent) were asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat, unlawfully, at an excised offshore place.
 
During the same year, 4,932 people were held in immigration detention for arriving in Australia by plane without authorisation, or breaching visa conditions -- such as overstaying their visas or having their visa cancelled.

WHO HAS BEEN GRANTED A VISA IN 2011-12?
As at April 4, 2013, 1186 protection visas had been granted. The onshore/offshore breakdown is not released until the end of the 2012/13 year.

Now let's take a look at how many asylum seekers were granted a visa over the past financial year, and why.

Under Australia’s Humanitarian Program, there are 13,750 refugee and protection visas granted every year.
In 2011-12, 13,759 visas were granted under Australia's Humanitarian Program. (6,718 under the offshore component, and 7,041 under the onshore component).

The offshore component offers resettlement to people overseas who have been determined to be refugees or in humanitarian need by UNHCR, while the onshore component offers protection for people already in Australia who are found to be refugees.
Under the offshore component, 821 visas were granted to Woman at Risk applicants in 2011-12.

In 2011-12 14,415 people applied for a visa under the onshore program. Half of them (7,041) was granted asylum.
Almost half of the 14,415 people who applied for a visa under the onshore component had arrived in Australia by plane (7,036), while 7,379 had arrived by boat.

Under the onshore component, most visas went to people who arrived by boat (4,766), an increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, 2,272 visas were granted to people who arrived by plane.
 
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF AUSTRALIA'S REFUGEES
At January 31, 2013, 47 per cent of detainees were Sri Lankan nationals, 13 per cent from Iran and 11 per cent from Afghanistan.

Of those in community detention, the largest group were Iranian nationals (34 per cent), followed by Sri Lankans (18 per cent) and Afghan nationals (15 per cent).

Note however, that these figures are for people in immigration detention, not for visas granted.

COMPARISONS WITH OTHER TYPES OF MIGRATION INTAKE
To put these numbers into perspective within the broader Australian migration intake, it is worthwhile to note that in 2011-2012 some 71,819 people got a visa under the points tested skilled-migration program, with the biggest group coming from India and the UK.

Meanwhile, 68,310 visas were granted under the Temporary Business (Longstay) subclass 457 visas, with the biggest group coming from the UK.

For the year 2012-13 up to the end of February, the number of 457 visa applications lodged was 8.3 per cent higher than the same period last year. 4.8 per cent more visas were granted.

The biggest group of visas granted went to citizens of India (20.9 per cent) followed by the United Kingdom (20 per cent).
The number of 457 visa holders becoming permanent residents or provisional visa holders was down 13 per cent at 22,280 granted in the 2012-2013 year up to February 28.

The number of primary visa holders in Australia as at February 28, 2013, was 107,510.

The Age July 18, 2013 - 11:53AM by Julian Burnside

At present, both major political parties favour the use of punitive measures that theoretically stem the arrival of boat people. This theory supposedly creates the facade that if Australia purports a harsh enough regime, hypothetical arrivals will cease, seeking instead their chances with the Taliban. In any case, it's not the Australia we should strive for.

In the midst of this seeming solution, neither the government nor the opposition has considered the legitimacy or humanity of their approach. Neither has given the public an accurate and honest explanation, meaning they've instead been grievously misled by false statements and gross sensationalism by opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison, and most recently by Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr.

It's useful to start with a few basic facts: something which neither major party seems willing to do.

The debate about asylum seekers was poisoned from the beginning by the Howard government, which spoke ominously about “border control”, and referred to boat people as “illegals” and “queue-jumpers”. By that bit of dog-whistling, then-prime minister John Howard conveyed the idea that boat people were a risk to our community: that they had committed an offence by coming here and that they had behaved with some degree of moral obliquity.

Asylum seekers do not commit any offence by coming here. Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights every person has the right to seek asylum in any territory they can reach. It is a dismal reflection of the state of politics that Mr Morrison frequently refers to asylum seekers arriving by boat as “illegals”. He knows it is a blatant lie, but he also knows that it works.

As for “queue-jumping”, leave aside that there is no queue where boat people come from, the etiquette of the checkout at Coles is not how it works when you are running for your life.

"Border protection" is a grossly misleading term, used by both major parties. It implies that boat people are a threat to us. They are not. We do not need to be protected from asylum seekers: they need to be protected from their persecutors.
Border control is a legitimate concern, but is irrelevant to the discussion. About 4 million people arrive in Australia each year by orthodox means: they come for business, holidays, study etc. If 25,000 a year arrive without authority, it is absurd to suggest that we have "lost control" of our borders. Our borders are close to watertight. Even if this year's rate of unauthorised arrivals continued (which is unlikely, given our history and geography), 25,000 unauthorised arrivals per year means that border control is effective in 99.3 per cent of cases. That is pretty good.

So what should Australia do with people who arrive here by boat seeking asylum? At present we spend from $200,000 to $450,000 per person per year to detain them on an indefinite basis. The cost depends on whether they are held in a metropolitan detention centre (cheapest) or a remote or offshore place (most expensive).

I believe it is reasonable that unauthorised arrivals should be detained initially for preliminary health and security checks. That detention should, however, be capped at one month. After that, while their refugee status is being determined, they should be released into the community on conditions that will ensure that they remain available for processing and (if necessary) removal. They should be allowed to work and live in dignity.

While their refugee status is being determined, they should be required to live in designated rural or regional areas: there are plenty of country towns that would be happy to receive them and benefit from their arrival. This approach has the advantage of being decent, humane, and vastly less expensive than the present approach. Nor does it damage people by subjecting them to the further mental trauma of not knowing when their indefinite detention will end, making their transition to becoming productive members of society, if and when they are determined to be owed protection, much easier.

Australia has signed the Refugee Convention. Indonesia has not. Asylum seekers who get to Indonesia live in perpetual fear of detection. In Indonesia, asylum seekers who are assessed as refugees may wait 20 or 30 years before they are offered a place in a third country. In the meantime they're unable to seek employment and their children are deprived an education. Not surprisingly, some of them – those with initiative and courage – take a chance with a people smuggler and arrive in Australia.

Some reading this will think: "Well, they should wait their turn." But what would you do? If you and your family faced persecution at the hands of the Taliban, would you wait in Kabul for a bullet; or hide in Indonesia for years on end waiting for another country to offer you protection? Or would you run for your life, and do whatever it took to get you and your family to safety? I know I would get to safety by hook or by crook. And if I got to a convention country, I would ask for protection.[Faced with no other choice, may join Taliban/Al Qaeda and become terrorists]
Ask our politicians what they would do if they faced the same choice?

Why further punish an already vulnerable minority for their actions – when those same actions simply reflect our shared sense of humanity and our fierce instincts for survival.

Julian Burnside is a lawyer and human rights advocate. He will be speaking in Sydney with Dianne Hiles at Redfern Town Hall on Wednesday, July 24 as part of the event A New Way: New Politics, New Policies.

A FRESH wave of Vietnamese boat people is reaching Australia as Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr revealed last night fears asylum-seeker numbers could double to 80,000 a year.

He told a function in Sydney asylum seeker numbers would continue to grow and be driven by economic factors unless Australia found new solutions to stem the flow.

"The nature of the challenge has changed for us," he said. "It's no longer a tiny number, it's 3000 or more a month - that's 40,000 a year - it could go higher, and that's 20 per cent of the Australian migrant intake.

"We've got to start thinking about fresh answers on this because if it can be 40,000 a year without a major upset in the region ... then that 50,000 a year, 40,000 a year could very easily double."

His comments came as Indonesia's Foreign Minister left open the prospect of accepting the Opposition's boat tow-back policy.

The latest vessel to arrive in Australia, carrying 84 Vietnamese, was intercepted within sight of the WA resort town of Broome this week.
The group is believed to have sailed directly from Vietnam, with 759 Vietnamese arriving this year and 937 since 2010, almost half the post-war influx in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Immigration officials fear girls are being trafficked and that the people-smuggling trade between Vietnam and Australia had links to drugs.

The new Vietnamese rush came as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd left PNG securing only further talks with the country on regional responses and no breakthrough on the crisis.

There had been speculation of a new deal but Mr Rudd said the countries would "continue to strengthen and to further our practical co-operation against our common enemy, people smugglers".

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa left open the prospect of accepting the Tony Abbott's tow-back policy yesterday and said a conference to discuss combating people smuggling, agreed to when Mr Rudd was in Jakarta, would take place next month.

He also dealt the government a blow after it had seized on Indonesia's insistence no country should take "unilateral action" as evidence it would not accept Mr Abbott's policy.

"The first point is that, when we used the term unilateral action, it is not to deny the fact there are things countries can do at the national level," Mr Natalegawa said.

"We have had good communication, including with the opposition, in terms of where they wish to take the discussion. So I am sure when the time comes, if the time comes, there will be a lot more communications going back and forth in trying to better comprehend and better understand what the opposition has meant by policies they have introduced."