Tighter laws to greet Australia's boat people

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock says the current laws favor those refugees jump the queue to Australia

By CNN's Grant Holloway

CANBERRA, Australia (CNN) -- Australia has intercepted another boatload of asylum-seekers off its north-west coast just a day after the government moved to tighten refugee laws.

The Indonesian vessel, carrying 60 would-be immigrants and four crew, was boarded off Ashmore Island, the Australian Customs Service said Tuesday.

Almost 4,600 boat people have arrived in Australia on 56 vessels in14 months, defying efforts by the Australian Government to discourage illegal immigrants through information campaigns in their home countries.

Australia's Minister for Immigration, Philip Ruddock, on Monday revealed proposed changes to Australia's Migration Act to tighten the definitions of who qualifies as a refugee in Australia.

Ruddock said the 1951 Refugees Convention was being too widely interpreted in Australia compared with countries such as Indonesia.

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"It is unacceptable that people who are able to pay a people-smuggler and make their way through several countries where they may avail themselves of protection, are getting a more favorable outcome than people languishing in the most appalling circumstances in refugee camps around the world," Ruddock said.

The proposed amendments to the Migration Act include new restrictions on refugee applicants, including a tougher definition of what is regarded as persecution.

Applicants' identities will also be questioned if they do not have supporting documentation.

The new laws would also prevent people with a criminal conviction in Australia from making applications for permanent protection visas.

Refugee support groups in Australia has criticized the Government's move, saying the changes would put extra obstacles in the way of would-be immigrants.

"It'll be much harder for refugees and asylum seekers to be go through the process and be accepted as refugees," the coordinator of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre in Melbourne, Martin Clutterbuck told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Conditions under fire

The Australian Government is also under fire for its treatment of illegal immigrants, particularly the policy of mandatory imprisoning of all refuge seekers in detention camps, including women and children.

These camps, several in remote desert locations, have been the venue for riots instigated by long-term detainees.

Inmates have also gone on regular hunger strikes and a number of suicide attempts have occurred.

Most recently, the fate of a six-year-old Iranian, held in Sydney's Villawood detention center with his parents, has caused fresh controversy.

A television documentary aired Monday night revealed the traumatized boy has been refusing food and water and must regularly be admitted to hospital for rehydration.

His parents have been refused refugee status and are facing deportation back to Iran.

Ruddok said Tuesday the Government has offered the parents the option of having the boy put into foster care until the family is repatriated, but said they had refused that offer.