This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jul/20/suspected-asylum-seeker-boat-spotted-near-the-coast-of-western-australia
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Suspected asylum seeker boat spotted near the coast of Western Australia | Suspected asylum seeker boat spotted near the coast of Western Australia |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A small boat believed to be carrying asylum seekers has been spotted near the coast of Western Australia. | A small boat believed to be carrying asylum seekers has been spotted near the coast of Western Australia. |
| The boat was sighted around dawn on Monday by the crew of an oil tanker near Dampier on the Pilbara coast, about 1,500km north of Perth. | The boat was sighted around dawn on Monday by the crew of an oil tanker near Dampier on the Pilbara coast, about 1,500km north of Perth. |
| The tanker was monitoring an oil rig operated by engineering company Modec on the north-west shelf, about 78 nautical miles, or 145km, from the coast. Gary Kennedy, Modec’s operations manager in Australia, told Guardian Australia that the crew of the tanker noticed the small boat when it went inside the 500 metre exclusion zone around the oil rig. | The tanker was monitoring an oil rig operated by engineering company Modec on the north-west shelf, about 78 nautical miles, or 145km, from the coast. Gary Kennedy, Modec’s operations manager in Australia, told Guardian Australia that the crew of the tanker noticed the small boat when it went inside the 500 metre exclusion zone around the oil rig. |
| Related: Joel Fitzgibbon: Labor should consider adopting asylum boat turnbacks policy | Related: Joel Fitzgibbon: Labor should consider adopting asylum boat turnbacks policy |
| “I can’t confirm that it was a refugee boat, but there were a number of people on board,” Kennedy said. | “I can’t confirm that it was a refugee boat, but there were a number of people on board,” Kennedy said. |
| “From looking at the vessel the people seemed to be in good health and high spirits.” | “From looking at the vessel the people seemed to be in good health and high spirits.” |
| Kennedy said the tanker’s crew contacted the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which was sending a search plane to check on the boat. | Kennedy said the tanker’s crew contacted the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which was sending a search plane to check on the boat. |
| He said the crew of the oil tanker had not made contact with the boat, which he said appeared to be in good condition. | He said the crew of the oil tanker had not made contact with the boat, which he said appeared to be in good condition. |
| The ABC is reporting that a WA police boat has been diverted from a search for three missing fishermen on the Dampier Peninsula to head toward the suspected asylum seeker vessel. | The ABC is reporting that a WA police boat has been diverted from a search for three missing fishermen on the Dampier Peninsula to head toward the suspected asylum seeker vessel. |
| AMSA said it was not authorised to comment on the incident, and referred calls to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. A spokeswoman for the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, said it did not comment on operational matters. | AMSA said it was not authorised to comment on the incident, and referred calls to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. A spokeswoman for the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, said it did not comment on operational matters. |
| In 2013, the crew of the same oil and gas rig spotted a boat carrying 17 Vietnamese asylum seekers. According to reports at the time, the passengers were the last group of asylum seekers to be processed on Christmas Island before the Rudd government implemented its Papua New Guinea solution. | In 2013, the crew of the same oil and gas rig spotted a boat carrying 17 Vietnamese asylum seekers. According to reports at the time, the passengers were the last group of asylum seekers to be processed on Christmas Island before the Rudd government implemented its Papua New Guinea solution. |
| The Dampier sighting appears to be the first public report of a suspected asylum seeker vessel making it within close reach of the Australian mainland since November 2013, when a boat carrying asylum seekers arrived in Darwin. However there has been a reported boat arrival since then – a group of 157 Tamil asylum seekers, whose boat was intercepted 16 nautical miles off Christmas Island in June 2014, were taken to Curtin detention centre in WA after being detained at sea on an Australian border protection vessel for almost a month. | |
| The Abbott government has been restricting information about possible asylum seeker arrivals since it was elected in September 2013, first by limiting discussion of anything said to be an “operational matter” then by ditching weekly press briefings in favour of a weekly statement about boat arrivals. That has since been changed into a monthly update. | |
| In January, Dutton announced that customs ships operating under Operation Sovereign Borders had turned back 15 boats carrying 429 asylum seekers in its first year of operation. | |
| The turnback policy, which has seen asylum seeker boats returned to India and Sri Lanka, has been criticised by the United Nations as “leading to a chain of human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and possible torture following return to home countries”. | |
| The Australian Labor party is expected to discuss whether or not to adopt the turn back policy as part of its immigration policy at its national conference this weekend. NSW MP Joel Fitzgibbon pre-empted the debate last month, saying he believes that “a turn back policy will be part of the broader package.” |