Australia announced tough new measures to stem a dramatic increase in refugee boats from Indonesia on Friday, with a deal to send all boat arrivals to Papua New Guinea (PNG) for assessment and eventual settlement.
The human rights group Amnesty International condemned the measures, saying Australia was shirking its moral obligations and turning its back on the world’s most vulnerable people.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is facing a tough election race and immigration has become a contentious issue.
A few hours after Rudd made the announcement the Immigration Department reported a riot at its detention and processing center on the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru.
The Immigration Department said the disturbance, involving about 150 of the 545 male inmates at the center, began before Rudd spoke in Australia. An unspecified number of detainees had breached the fence and several staff and detainees were being treated for injuries, a spokeswoman for the department said.
More than 15,000 asylum seekers have arrived by boat in Australian territory this year, igniting a heated debate on refugee policy and prompting opposition accusations that the ruling Labor government is soft on border protection.
