ASYLUM SEEKER DEATHS HIGHLIGHT BORDER SECURITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CANBERRA 000394

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PREL AF AS
SUBJECT: ASYLUM SEEKER DEATHS HIGHLIGHT BORDER SECURITY
DEBATE


1. (SBU) Summary: The deaths of three Afghans in a recent
boat explosion off Australia's northwest coast highlight a
larger debate over the effects of Prime Minister Rudd's
policies on treatment of asylum seekers. Border protection
is becoming a higher profile political issue due to a rise in
the number of boat people seeking asylum in recent months.
While overall numbers are relatively small -- less than 200
in each of the last two years -- the numbers have risen
steadily, spiking to 276 asylum seekers so far in the first
three and one-half months of 2009. The government attributes
the increase to deteriorating conditions in strife-torn
countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while
the Opposition blames it on the Rudd government's relaxation
of immigration detention policies in 2008. Four boatloads of
asylum seekers have been intercepted in the last two weeks,
the latest occurring on April 15 when, in an ironic twist,
government ministers were in Indonesia for a regional
conference on combating people smuggling. Moreover, the issue
is highly emotive; border protection was widely credited as a
major factor in the conservative Coalition's 2001 election
victory. Opposition Liberal moderates may resist a returning
to the hard-line approach adopted by the previous Coalition
government led by John Howard. At the same time, the ALP left
will pressure Rudd not to reverse course if he shows any sign
of toughening its asylum rules. END SUMMARY.

EXPLOSION DESTROYS BOAT WITH ASYLUM SEEKERS OFF NW AUSTRALIA
COAST


2. (SBU) The April 16 explosion aboard a boat carrying 47
Afghani male asylum seekers near Ashmore Reef, off the
morthwest coast of Western Australia (WA),killed three
people and injured about 30 others, some seriously. Two
people are still missing. In a dramatic rescue mission,
victims were evacuated to nearby hospitals in Broome and
Darwin (in the Northern territory),while others were
airlifted to the WA capital's Royal Perth Hospital's
specialist burn unit. The hospital's executive director Dr.
Paul Mark said that extra security was in place at the
hospital, including immigration officials and various
government agency staff. All patients have been quarantined
in separate rooms and the hospital remains on code brown
alert--meaning that the hospital is coping with a rare
external disaster. In an extremely complex medical rescue,
those injured in the explosion were transported by naval
vessels to the Puffin oil rig, then by helicopter to the
Truscott Air Base in the Northwest before being evacuated to
hospitals by Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS),military
aircraft, including C-17s, and charter planes. Some with
minor injuries are being taken by sea to Darwin. RFDS chief
executive Tim Shackelton said that the significantly
difficult, logistical operation had gone remarkably well.

WA PREMIER CLAIMS SABOTAGE


3. (SBU) Shortly after early reports of the incident, WA
Premier Colin Barnett claimed that the asylum seekers had
deliberately doused their boat with gasoline, which had
Qeither exploded accidentally, or had been deliberately
ignited. The claim could not be confirmed and Australia's
Border Protection Commander, Rear Admiral Allan de Toit,
declined to comment on the Premier's assertion, saying that
it was too early to determine the cause of the explosion,
adding that Australian military personnel, who had
intercepted the boat a day earlier, were on board at the time
of the explosion. WA police believed that the blast may have
originated in the engine room. Federal Home Affairs Minister
Bob Debus questioned the source of Premier Barnett's
information, commenting that it was too early to say whether
the explosion was accidental or deliberate. WA Labor MLA Paul
Papalia, a former patrol boat commander, called for a more
considered approach by all participants in the public debate,
terming the public speculation on the cause of the fire
"inappropriate and incredibly unhelpful at a time when an
incident is underway which has resulted in death and injury
to a number of people."

THE FACTS


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4. (U) There were 148 unauthorized arrivals intercepted in
Australian waters in calendar year 2007; 179 in 2008; and 276
so far in 2009. Four boatloads of asylum seekers have been
intercepted during the last fortnight. In the run-up to the
November 2007 federal election, Kevin Rudd's Australian Labor
Party (ALP) campaigned on a promise to adopt a more humane
approach to asylum seekers. In December, 2007, after his
election victory, the Rudd government announced the end of
the previous administration's "Pacific Solution" (off-shore
processing of asylum seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea).
In May 2008, the government announced it was scrapping
Temporary Protection Visas, a measure introduced in 1999 by
the Howard government to deter people smugglers (under this
policy, unauthorized arrivals found to be refugees could be
removed from Australia if conditions in their home countries
improved). In July 2008, the government changed the
fundamental premise underlying "mandatory detention" (while
their claims are processed, asylum seekers will only be
detained as a last resort). In November 2008, the Immigration
Minister said: "With the worst excesses of Howard era refugee
policy behind us, Australia has been able to return as a
credible international actor in the field of refugee
protection." The Howard government,s tough stance on border
protection was widely credited for its 2001 election victory.

THE BLAME GAME


5. (U) The Opposition has charged that the government's
changes sent a "green light" to people smugglers; accuses the
government of not providing adequate resources for border
security, quarantine services and immigration processing; and
has called for greater co-operation with Indonesia in
combating people smuggling. Opposition immigration
spokesperson Sharman Stone blamed Rudd's government for the
April 16 tragedy, saying that "you can't slash funds, you
can't take your eye off the ball, you can't announce a softer
policy and then expect people not to lose their lives through
people smuggling." The Government has attributed the recent
surge to "seasonal conditions"; and "push factors" such as
deteriorating conditions in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri
Lanka. The Government has also noted that the number of
asylum seekers has increased around the world. Immigration
Minister Chris Evans, in Indonesia ironically for a regional
conference on people smuggling, said Indonesia lacked
sufficient capacity to prosecute people smugglers.


6. (SBU) Officials at DFAT have told the Embassy that
small, independent smugglers are replacing the larger
operators in part because of Indonesia's success -- bolstered
by help and training from the Australian Federal Police and
Australian customs -- in stopping the major people smugglers,
who exerted the most corrupting influence on the military,
politicians and police. Asylum seekers have the money to
pay/bribe the small providers, and the boats are leaving from
many more coves and inlets than before, greatly complicating
the coast guard,s task.


7. (SBU) On the more general issue of soft immigration
Q7. (SBU) On the more general issue of soft immigration
policies, Gregory Copely of the Perth-based think-tank Future
Directions blamed the recent rise in illegal boats on PM
Rudd's softened immigration policy, opining that "the
Government is not prepared adequately to defend the
sovereignty of Australia and the laws of Australia." Copley
asserted the Prime Minister would be better served by
returning to the policies of the Howard era of not tolerating
illegal arrivals, which had succeeded in keeping incursions
to a minimum. A leading ALP strategist told Consulate Perth
that he thought the increased incidence of asylum seekers
resulted from a combination of Australia's softer immigration
policy and a global increase in refugee movements, and that
the government was right to withhold comment on the cause of
the Ashmore Reef incident until hard evidence was obtained on
the cause of the explosion. Another Labor politician told CG
Perth that he was surprised that Barnett came out so early to
accuse the Afghanis of sabotaging their own vessel, adding
that one had to be careful with such accusations in light of
the "Children Overboard" incident of several years ago.

NOT A THREAT TO THE POLITICAL BALANCE

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8. (SBU) COMMENT: The Coalition, lagging far behind in the
polls and struggling to connect with Rudd's "working
families", is seeking to shift political debate to one of the
Coalition's traditional strengths - national security.
However, political dynamics have shifted on border protection
since the 2001 election. At that election, not long after
September 11, Prime Minister Howard declared: "We will decide
who comes to this country and the circumstance in which they
come." However, the economy is now foremost in the minds of
"working families", and the Howard government's detention
policy was scandalized by wrongful detentions and disturbing
cases of long-term detention. It is difficult to envisage
Rudd significantly hardening immigration policy. This would
alienate the Left of his party, and possibly undermine
Australia's bid for a UN Security Council seat. And there is
no indication so far that this issue is affecting his
dominant standing in the polls. Rather, it is likely Rudd
will continue to pressure Indonesia, in particular, to do
more. This issue may backfire on the Coalition, if it becomes
too vocal, given that some moderate Liberals were
uncomfortable with the Howard government,s approach. END
COMMENT.


9. (U) This report was prepared in coordination with
Consulate General Perth.

CLUNE