Suspect asylum seekers at Christmas Is

Suspect asylum seekers at Christmas Is | The Australian

UPDATED: Mark Dodd | July 11, 2009
Article from: The Australian

A suspected asylum seeker vessel intercepted yesterday off Christmas Island by the Royal Australian Navy has arrived at the island's small port and is expected to disembark.

They will be held at the island's immigration detention centre which is now reaching capacity following a surge of asylum seekers over the past eight months.

The RAN's patrol boat HMAS Armidale intercepted the boat - the 17th to be detected so far this year - 80 nautical miles from Christmas Island.

It brings to more than 900 asylum seekers detained in Australian waters so far this year along with more than 35 foreign crew.

'The group will be transferred to Christmas Island where they will undergo security, identity and health checks to establish their identity and reasons for travel, Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said in a statement yesterday.

Meanwhile, there are growing fears for the safety of 59 asylum seekers whose boat foundered and sank of the eastern Indonesian island of Sumbawa last week.


Indonesian authorities have detained 15 people off the boat who currently being held in the small port town of Bima.

An initial claim by Foreign Minister Stephen Smith that all the passengers on the boat had been rescued was incorrect.