Backdated laws proposed to deny boat people

Australia's foreign ministers left Indonesia on Friday without securing a refugee agreement

SYDNEY, Australia -- Australia served notice that refugees arriving at remote outlying islands will not be given asylum rights, as two more refugee ships were intercepted over the weekend.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said those seeking refugee status who landed on remote outposts such as Christmas Island or Ashmore Reef would not be entitled to rights afforded to those reaching the mainland.

The prime minister's statement followed the interception Friday night of a boat carrying 237 asylum seekers off the country's northwest coast.

The latest arrivals on an Indonesian-registered boat were put on a troop ship already carrying more than 400 mostly Afghan asylum seekers bound for Papua New Guinea.

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Howard said the government would introduce legislation into Parliament, which would be backdated to take effect from 2 p.m. (0400 GMT) Saturday, to make it tougher for people arriving by boat to lodge claims for asylum.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Sunday that Indonesia had prevented a third boat carrying asylum seekers from heading for Australia.

"At no stage did this latest vessel reach Australian territorial waters. It did enter the contiguous zone, but it did not enter the territorial waters and as a result questions of application for asylum status do not arise," he said.

Downer told reporters Indonesian authorities had declined permission for the ship to be boarded while it was still in Indonesian waters.

He said the vessel was later boarded in international waters near Australia's Ashmore Reef after warnings for it to turn around.

"Discussions are now underway regarding the future processing of these people and I would expect than an announcement in relation to that will be made in the next day or two by the relevant ministers," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

The 433 asylum seekers already on the Manoora were the centre of a diplomatic standoff between Australia, Indonesia and Norway when they were rescued from a sinking Indonesian ferry by the Norwegian ship Tampa.

The cargo ship remained off Australia's Christmas Island for eight days after Australia refused permission for it to dock. The asylum seekers were later transferred to the Manoora under the regional resettlement deal.

Indonesia praised

Foreign minister Downer praised Indonesian authorities for intercepting a third ship heading to Australian waters.

Australian navy patrol boats are also used to apprehend illegal fishing vessels

"Without going into the details of this there has been a substantial effort made by the Indonesians to stop another boat coming to Australia in the last day or so. That boat hasn't come," Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corporation television.

"We have to be decisive and forceful in trying to break this ugly people trafficking racket," he said.

Downer headed a delegation to Jakarta last week seeking more co-operation from Indonesia to stem the flow of asylum seekers.

Criticism of legislation

Howard said on Saturday the legislation, to be introduced in parliament this month, would remove Christmas Island and the Ashmore reef islands from Australia's migration zone, the area within territorial waters from where applications for asylum can be lodged.

Both territories are close to Indonesia and the place were a number of boats carrying asylum seekers have landed.

The minor but influential Australian Democrats quickly condemned the proposed laws as a knee-jerk reaction and said it might violate Australia's international obligations.

"Excising parts of Australia from federal law is not only extraordinary -- I mean what next, exemptions from the Racial Discrimination Act or sex discrimination laws -- but it also flies in the face of our international obligations and that's greatly concerning," Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja said during an Australian television interview.