ABC – Christmas Is pleased to see back of asylum seekers
ABC – Open again: the Curtin air base (ABC)
ABC – Curtin reopening ‘good for business’
The Australian – PM reopens Howard’s toughest compound
SMH – Disappointment and anger obvious
SMH – Former detention centre comes back into service
The Aust – Curtin `hellhole’ to be reopened
The Age – Curtin reopened for detention
ABC TV Foreign Correspondent – Sri Lanka : Hell or High Water?
Reporter: Eric Campbell
If they stay they face intimidation, violence even death. If they go they put their lives and life savings in the hands of people smugglers, run the gauntlet of naval patrols and the perils of the sea itself. They are the Tamils of Sri Lanka and many of them are choosing to take the high water over the hell at home. For some it’s a case of if at first you don’t succeed, try again.
Al Jazeera – Sri Lanka asylum boat ‘threatened’
A boatload of Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have been moored off the Indonesian island of Java since October say that the military is threatening to force them off the vessel, an advocacy group has said.
Nearly 250 Tamils holed up on the boat near the port town of Merak are refusing to disembark until Australia grants them asylum.
In a statement on Thursday, the Australia-based Refugee Action Coalition called on the Australian government to intervene to guarantee the Tamils’ safety.
”The Indonesian navy is either preparing to remove people from the boat or is intimidating very vulnerable people,” it said.
Citing information relayed from the boat, Ian Rintoul, a spokesperson for the council, said a number of Indonesian inflatable boats carrying navy personnel with weapons and in camouflage uniform had approached the vessel. More
SMH – Indonesian navy ‘scaring’ Tamils
Almost 250 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have spent the past eight weeks refusing to leave their rickety cargo boat believe the Indonesian navy is trying to scare them into coming ashore.
The group’s spokesman, Sanjeev “Alex” Kuhendrarajah, said navy officers tried to board their boat, moored in the west Javan port of Merak, early on Thursday morning.
“Since then, many boats have surrounded us,” Alex told AAP.
“The Indonesian government claims it’s only an exercise and there’s no threat to us.
“We believe they’re making false claims and they were trying to do something.
“Are they trying to intimidate us? Are they trying to pressure us into retaliating? More
The Australian – Sri Lankan asylum seekers caught in ‘routine’ Indonesian naval exercise
INDONESIAN special forces exercises in the western Java harbour where a boatload of Sri Lankan asylum seekers are staging a sit-in were planned months ago and were not intended to force the Tamils from their boat, according to officials. More
Socialist Alliance – Aboriginal leaders demand Rudd change refugee policy
The loss of life in Monday’s tragic sinking of yet another boatload of asylum seekers must evoke disgust here and throughout the world at the Rudd government’s hypocritical and oppressive rejection of desperate people who are fighting for their very survival.
While Kevin Rudd increasingly resembles John Howard—the arrogantly inflexible and hard-line political “leader” who could never admit to an error of judgment or say sorry — he forgets that 98% of Australians are boatpeople, the descendants of boatpeople or, more recently “plane people”.
Aboriginal people throughout Australia would be laughing at Rudd’s hypocrisy, if we were not looking on aghast at the inhumane treatment being afforded to desperate refugees and asylum seekers — especially those Tamils from Sri Lanka who are fleeing years of racial conflict, internment and the genocidal oppression they face in their country of origin. More
Brisbane Times – Boats not the reason for poll hit: govt
Labor backbencher Maxine McKew doesn’t believe a hit in the polls is the result of the government’s controversial handling of the asylum seeker debate.
She thinks the latest Newspoll, which recorded a seven percentage point swing against the Rudd government on Tuesday, might just be an anomaly. More
ABC Online – Rudd has ‘no choice’ on asylum seekers
As the 78 asylum seekers on board the Oceanic Viking approach their third week on the boat, former Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson believes Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will have no choice but to send them to Christmas Island. More
Geelong Advertiser – Policy vacuum hurting refugees
AUSTRALIA is still struggling to come up with a coherent refugee policy and our reputation as a compassionate country which came under fire during the Howard Pacific solution years continues to suffer.
The lack of a resolution to the present standoff in which 78 ethnic Tamils have refused to leave the Australian Customs vessel Oceanic Viking off the coast of Bintan Island in Indonesia is doing us no favours. The standoff has been continuing for more than two weeks despite a “deal” brokered by PM Rudd and Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. More
Radio Australia – Australia’s PM dogged by a fortnight of asylum seeker politics
ABC – Opposition: Oceanic Viking costing taxpayers $75K a day
Daily Times – VIEW: Where is Australia? —Farish A Noor
ABC – Asylum seekers fear forcible removal
The Australian – Tamils ‘concerned they will be removed’
BBC – Indonesia ‘might expel’ refugees
The Australian – Delegation visits in push for regional co-operation
The Australian – Kids destined for detention: Jakarta
News.com.au – Chilli weapon ruled out in asylum seeker boat standoff
Jakarta Post – Indonesia demands time line for Sri Lankan asylum seekers
The Australian – Indonesia gives Oceanic Viking another week
Brisbane Times – Asylum seekers showdown averted for week
ABC – Asylum seekers fear forcible removal
The Age – Rudd must relent to avoid costly stand-off
The Australian – Tamils ‘concerned they will be removed’
Sydney Morning Herald – Tamils’ horrific treatment makes them desperate to leave
BBC – Indonesia ‘might expel’ refugees
The Australian – Indonesia ‘might expel’ refugees
The Australian – Caucus united on refugees
The Australian – Kids destined for detention: Jakarta
News.com.au – Chilli weapon ruled out in asylum seeker boat standoff
The Australian – The strange and puzzling case of Dr Kevin and Mr Rudd
