Gumleaf
April 17th, 2009, 01:36 AM
14:00 AEST Fri Apr 17 2009
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says those involved in people smuggling should "rot in hell".
"They should rot in jail and in my own view rot in hell," he told reporters in Sydney.
"People smugglers are engaged in the role of people trade and they should rot in jail because they represent the scum of the earth," he said.
"We've seen this lowest form of human life at work in what we saw on the high seas yesterday.
"That's why this government maintains its hardline, targeted approach to maintain border protection for Australia.
"That's why we've dedicated more resources to combat people smuggling than any other government in Australian history."
Border authorities still can't confirm the cause of a deadly explosion on a boat carrying asylum seekers off Australia's northwest coast on Thursday morning.
Mr Rudd said he had been advised by Border Protection Command on Friday morning that all critically and seriously injured passengers from the vessel had reached the Australian mainland.
In a statement delivered at a function at Ryde, Sydney, he said a total of 31 passengers from the vessel were transferred from Royal Australian Navy patrol boats HMAS Childers and HMAS Albany by helicopter to Truscott in far north Western Australia.
"Medical officers assessed the 31 passengers in Truscott before being transported to the most appropriate medical facilities," he said.
"The eight passengers with the most severe injuries were transferred to Darwin and all arrived approximately 6am Darwin time. One patient was sent to Broome for an urgent surgical procedure and will remain there until stable enough to move to Perth."
Mr Rudd said the remaining 22 were being transferred to Perth.
Four patients were flown aboard a Challenger jet and arrived at 2.50am Western Australian time (4.50am AEST).
Two stretcher patients were transferred on a Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft and were expected to arrive at 7am (9am AEST).
A RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft should arrive with the remaining 16 patients before midday WA time.
"The remaining 13 passengers from the vessel are being transported to Darwin by HMAS Albany," he said.
"Now the hard work of our medical and emergency teams begins in earnest. In Perth and in Darwin our medical teams are some of the most experienced in the world dealing with these types of incidents and injuries and we wish them every success."
The boat, carrying 47 suspected asylum seekers and two crew, exploded about 6.30am (WST) on Thursday, after having been intercepted off Ashmore Reef a day earlier.
Three people were killed, and a search was launched for another two who were missing after the blast. Another 30 asylum seekers were badly injured and were being flown to the mainland for treatment.
Three defence personnel were also injured.
South Australia has offered treatment for up to 12 burns victims from the explosion aboard the boat.
SA Health Minister John Hill said the offer had been made to the federal government and the Royal Perth Hospital to transfer two burns patients in a serious condition and 10 cases of lesser severity to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
In Queensland, the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital said in a statement it was expecting four patients to arrive on Friday night for treatment.
"During times of peak demand Australia's hospitals work together in a coordinated way, just like when our burns unit played a key role in treating the victims of the Bali bombings," Mr Hill said.
Earlier, former immigration minister Philip Ruddock said boatpeople are often advised by people smugglers to sabotage their own craft.
Intercepted boats were often disabled by those on board in the belief that would prevent them being returned to Indonesia or other countries used for people smuggling from Asia, Mr Ruddock said.
His comments, reported by The Australian newspaper on Friday, follow Thursday's explosion on a boat carrying suspected asylum seekers off Australia's northwest coast.
Mr Ruddock, who implemented the Howard government's Pacific Solution to hold detained boatpeople in offshore detention centres while their claims were processed, backed the assertion by West Australian Premier Colin Barnett that Thursday's explosion was caused by a deliberately-lit fire.
"It is quite clear people were given advice travelling here that if they were intercepted and the vessel was likely to be subject to return, they should disable the vessel to ensure they couldn't be transported," he said.
"Putting cocktails into the engines that would disable them, disabling the vessel by knocking a hole in the hull so it would sink were all matters ... undertaken and encouraged by smugglers to ensure people were taken rather than returned."
On Friday, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the cause of the deadly explosion on the boat was unlikely to be known for some time.
Senator Evans said it was too early to speculate.
"We're not going to know that for some time," he told ABC Radio.
"One thing we learnt from the children overboard affair is that politicians shouldn't be making claims about the things they don't know."
"I think it would be wise if everyone stopped pretending they knew."
A refugee advocate has questioned claims that the boat carrying asylum seekers was deliberately set alight by those on board.
Pamela Kerr, campaign coordinator of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne, said once the navy boat pulled up alongside the boat carrying the asylum seekers, those onboard would have known they were going to be processed.
"I asked a friend of mine about this ... an Iraqi man, and he said to me, `Do Australians think we're stupid, that we would put our own engines to fire?'"
"He said, `We are not stupid. If we wanted to stop the engine we would put sugar in it,'" Ms Kerr told ABC Radio.
There was evidence of a worrying "hysteria" that was not backed by past experience, she said.
"I'm afraid there is a disconnect between the Liberal rhetoric of they (set fire to) their boats and the facts on the ground, the statistics.
"I cannot imagine that these people would deliberately set their boat on fire, while they are on the boat."
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said there's been a dramatic increase in people seeking asylum around the world over the past two years.
"Between 2007 and 2008 there was a 12 per cent jump in individuals making asylum claims," UNHCR spokesman Tim Irwin told ABC Radio.
The Refugee Council of Australia says people often have no knowledge of a country's immigration policy when they flee persecution and seek asylum.
"There may be (an understanding) ... amongst people smugglers ... but when people actually flee from persecution ... any option to get out of there is what they will take," spokesman John Gibson told ABC Television.
Mr Gibson said Australia's immigration system under the previous federal government was "appalling and flawed".
"It's quite clear that people were sent back and died in Afghanistan as a result of the flawed policy."
Sydney University law professor Mary Crock says people seek unauthorised asylum because it is too dangerous to stay where they are.
"There are no refugee camps to go to in many of these places," Prof Crock told ABC Radio.
Amnesty International's Australian refugee coordinator Graham Thom said people were often willing to risk their lives to seek asylum.
"They are so desperate that they will put their lives in the hands of people smugglers," Dr Thom told ABC Radio.
© AAP 2009
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says those involved in people smuggling should "rot in hell".
"They should rot in jail and in my own view rot in hell," he told reporters in Sydney.
"People smugglers are engaged in the role of people trade and they should rot in jail because they represent the scum of the earth," he said.
"We've seen this lowest form of human life at work in what we saw on the high seas yesterday.
"That's why this government maintains its hardline, targeted approach to maintain border protection for Australia.
"That's why we've dedicated more resources to combat people smuggling than any other government in Australian history."
Border authorities still can't confirm the cause of a deadly explosion on a boat carrying asylum seekers off Australia's northwest coast on Thursday morning.
Mr Rudd said he had been advised by Border Protection Command on Friday morning that all critically and seriously injured passengers from the vessel had reached the Australian mainland.
In a statement delivered at a function at Ryde, Sydney, he said a total of 31 passengers from the vessel were transferred from Royal Australian Navy patrol boats HMAS Childers and HMAS Albany by helicopter to Truscott in far north Western Australia.
"Medical officers assessed the 31 passengers in Truscott before being transported to the most appropriate medical facilities," he said.
"The eight passengers with the most severe injuries were transferred to Darwin and all arrived approximately 6am Darwin time. One patient was sent to Broome for an urgent surgical procedure and will remain there until stable enough to move to Perth."
Mr Rudd said the remaining 22 were being transferred to Perth.
Four patients were flown aboard a Challenger jet and arrived at 2.50am Western Australian time (4.50am AEST).
Two stretcher patients were transferred on a Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft and were expected to arrive at 7am (9am AEST).
A RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft should arrive with the remaining 16 patients before midday WA time.
"The remaining 13 passengers from the vessel are being transported to Darwin by HMAS Albany," he said.
"Now the hard work of our medical and emergency teams begins in earnest. In Perth and in Darwin our medical teams are some of the most experienced in the world dealing with these types of incidents and injuries and we wish them every success."
The boat, carrying 47 suspected asylum seekers and two crew, exploded about 6.30am (WST) on Thursday, after having been intercepted off Ashmore Reef a day earlier.
Three people were killed, and a search was launched for another two who were missing after the blast. Another 30 asylum seekers were badly injured and were being flown to the mainland for treatment.
Three defence personnel were also injured.
South Australia has offered treatment for up to 12 burns victims from the explosion aboard the boat.
SA Health Minister John Hill said the offer had been made to the federal government and the Royal Perth Hospital to transfer two burns patients in a serious condition and 10 cases of lesser severity to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
In Queensland, the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital said in a statement it was expecting four patients to arrive on Friday night for treatment.
"During times of peak demand Australia's hospitals work together in a coordinated way, just like when our burns unit played a key role in treating the victims of the Bali bombings," Mr Hill said.
Earlier, former immigration minister Philip Ruddock said boatpeople are often advised by people smugglers to sabotage their own craft.
Intercepted boats were often disabled by those on board in the belief that would prevent them being returned to Indonesia or other countries used for people smuggling from Asia, Mr Ruddock said.
His comments, reported by The Australian newspaper on Friday, follow Thursday's explosion on a boat carrying suspected asylum seekers off Australia's northwest coast.
Mr Ruddock, who implemented the Howard government's Pacific Solution to hold detained boatpeople in offshore detention centres while their claims were processed, backed the assertion by West Australian Premier Colin Barnett that Thursday's explosion was caused by a deliberately-lit fire.
"It is quite clear people were given advice travelling here that if they were intercepted and the vessel was likely to be subject to return, they should disable the vessel to ensure they couldn't be transported," he said.
"Putting cocktails into the engines that would disable them, disabling the vessel by knocking a hole in the hull so it would sink were all matters ... undertaken and encouraged by smugglers to ensure people were taken rather than returned."
On Friday, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the cause of the deadly explosion on the boat was unlikely to be known for some time.
Senator Evans said it was too early to speculate.
"We're not going to know that for some time," he told ABC Radio.
"One thing we learnt from the children overboard affair is that politicians shouldn't be making claims about the things they don't know."
"I think it would be wise if everyone stopped pretending they knew."
A refugee advocate has questioned claims that the boat carrying asylum seekers was deliberately set alight by those on board.
Pamela Kerr, campaign coordinator of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne, said once the navy boat pulled up alongside the boat carrying the asylum seekers, those onboard would have known they were going to be processed.
"I asked a friend of mine about this ... an Iraqi man, and he said to me, `Do Australians think we're stupid, that we would put our own engines to fire?'"
"He said, `We are not stupid. If we wanted to stop the engine we would put sugar in it,'" Ms Kerr told ABC Radio.
There was evidence of a worrying "hysteria" that was not backed by past experience, she said.
"I'm afraid there is a disconnect between the Liberal rhetoric of they (set fire to) their boats and the facts on the ground, the statistics.
"I cannot imagine that these people would deliberately set their boat on fire, while they are on the boat."
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said there's been a dramatic increase in people seeking asylum around the world over the past two years.
"Between 2007 and 2008 there was a 12 per cent jump in individuals making asylum claims," UNHCR spokesman Tim Irwin told ABC Radio.
The Refugee Council of Australia says people often have no knowledge of a country's immigration policy when they flee persecution and seek asylum.
"There may be (an understanding) ... amongst people smugglers ... but when people actually flee from persecution ... any option to get out of there is what they will take," spokesman John Gibson told ABC Television.
Mr Gibson said Australia's immigration system under the previous federal government was "appalling and flawed".
"It's quite clear that people were sent back and died in Afghanistan as a result of the flawed policy."
Sydney University law professor Mary Crock says people seek unauthorised asylum because it is too dangerous to stay where they are.
"There are no refugee camps to go to in many of these places," Prof Crock told ABC Radio.
Amnesty International's Australian refugee coordinator Graham Thom said people were often willing to risk their lives to seek asylum.
"They are so desperate that they will put their lives in the hands of people smugglers," Dr Thom told ABC Radio.
© AAP 2009