Row erupts over migrant boat arrivals in Australia
SYDNEY, Australia: Dozens of migrants have reportedly landed by boat in a remote part of Western Australia state, igniting a political row over the country’s zerotolerance border protection regime.
About three dozen foreigners were found by locals on Friday as they walked in separate groups by the coast in the country’s northwestern Dampier Peninsula, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) reported.
“The conditions were very hot. Some of them seemed dizzy and wobbling a bit,” resident Melissa Smith was quoted as saying.
The migrants, some photographed as they rested in a park, said they were from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and one of them reportedly told the ABC he planned to seek asylum.
The Australian Border Force confirmed it was “undertaking an operation in the northwest of Australia,” but declined to give further details.
“Australia’s tough border protection policies means no one who travels unauthorized by boat will ever be allowed to settle permanently in Australia,” it said in a statement.
Under the stringent policy implemented more than a decade ago, Australia has turned back boats and sent thousands of migrants to offshore “processing centers” on the Pacific islands of Manus and Nauru.
The policy dramatically cut the number of attempted ocean crossings but has been severely criticized by human rights groups.
The latest arrivals sparked opposition accusations that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his center-left Labor government had encouraged people smugglers by being weak on migration.
“The fact is that we’ve got a weak prime minister when it comes to our borders. He has allowed this boat through,” conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton told reporters on Saturday. “The prime minister reaps what he sows.”
Albanese said he had been briefed on the arrivals but would not discuss the details of “operational matters.”
“We do not seek to politicize national security issues and it is unfortunate when any politician seeks to do so,” he said.
An Air Nauru plane was seen at northwestern Australia’s Broome International Airport on Saturday, but it was unclear if any of the migrants were aboard, ABC said.