ABC News - 20/02/00 : Court demands forced U-turns for illegal immigrants
 LISTEN: WMP | Real
Select a Topic
from the list below
  Click "Refresh" or "Reload"
  on your browser for the latest edition.
 This Bulletin: Sun, Feb 20 2000 12:26 AM AEDT  

Top Stories

Breaking Stories

World News

Business

Sport

Sci Tech

Weather

Rural News

Local News


      
 SPECIALS


Footy 2000

GST

East Timor

Indonesia

Olympics


 RELATED
 ABC SITES


Lateline

Four Corners

7.30 Report

Foreign
Correspondent


Landline

Australian Story

AM

The World Today

PM

Correspondents'
 Report


NewsRadio


 ABC ONLINE

Home

 Other Areas of
 Interest:




 INTERACTIVE

Contact Us

News Mail


 HELP

Hearing Audio

Viewing Video

  TOP STORIES


Court demands forced U-turns for illegal immigrants

Western Australia's Premier Richard Court wants a tougher approach to the issue of illegal immigrants.

Mr Court says authorities should track down large boat loads of immigrants and turn them around before they reach Australian shores.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock says intelligence information shows large groups of people are gathering in Indonesia, preparing to make the journey to Australia.

He says efforts are underway to stop them before they leave.

But Mr Court says even if the boat people begin their journey to Australia, they should be stopped before they arrive.

"If it's true that there are a large number on a single boat, we should send an even larger boat, turn them around and put them back into the port where they come from," he said.

Mr Court says illegal immigrants take a punt that Australia's sense of fair play gives them a fifty-fifty chance of staying in the country.

He says it is a rort and Australia must toughen its approach to the issue.


Christmas Island

Meanwhile, the president of the Chamber of Commerce on Christmas Island, Philip Oakley, says there is no way the island can cope with another large influx of boat people.

In the past few months, Christmas Island has been a popular destination for boat people attempting to enter Australia.

Mr Oakley says catering for 1,000 boat people, which could be heading for Australia in one group, is way beyond the island's resources.

"If we were to get anything like 1,000 people on this island at once we would have a major logistical problem," he said.

"In the past we've had up to about 300 illegal immigrants at any one point in time and that stretches resources to the absolute maximum."


Previous Story     Index     Next Story

back to ABC Online
© 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

ABC Online Sites
Live forum: Join land clearing activist Leon Ashby. Sunday 1pm (AEDT)

In Depth

Listen to AM (Windows Media)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ned Kelly's skull: Stolen or liberated?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Footy 2000: Your guide to the NRL and AFL
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
News Feature: Where are the frogs going?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NEWS FEATURE. Exhibition marks triumph for three Perth artists.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
FEATURE: Samaranch fronts Congress committee
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ABC Cricket
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The 7.30 Report. Stories posted nightly
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
IN BUSINESS: Chart Your Shares