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Rohingya asylum crisis: Abbott shrugs off Indonesia's 'UN obligation' rebuke
The Guardian (Australia) - May 22, 2015
More than 8,000 Rohingyas and Bangladeshis have been stranded at sea since Thai authorities closed a trafficking route from Burma.
But the Australian government has resisted calls to aid the asylum seekers, sparking a rebuke from Indonesia's foreign ministry on Thursday, which said Australia was obliged to assist them as a UN signatory to the refugee convention.
In response to questions about the comments from Indonesian officials, the Australian prime minister said on Friday: "It would be utterly irresponsible of me or anyone to suggest for a second that we will reward people for doing something so dangerous."
The crisis has sparked offers of assistance from countries around the world. Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to give temporary shelter to the asylum seekers. Gambia, the Philippines and the US are among those who have said they will help with resettlement.
But the Australian government is unlikely to follow suit. The events sparked a monosyllabic response from Abbott on Thursday. When asked whether Australia would take any additional asylum seekers, he said: "Nope, nope, nope."
On Friday Bill Shorten called on the prime minister to stop oversimplifying a complex issue. "What Australia should do is work with our neighbours in the region who are getting these people and see what we can do to help," the opposition leader said.
"Tony Abbott shouldn't dumb the issue down to saying whether we take these people here or we do nothing. Australia is a smarter, more generous nation and I'm heartened by what Julie Bishop said about talking to Myanmar about what's going on there."
Immigration minister Peter Dutton said the government's asylum seeker policies was being "undermined by Shorten, in part because of his comments on the Rohingyan asylum seekers. "He's dancing this funny dance but he's not saying he will adopt the strong policies of the Abbott government," he said.
Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch has accused the prime minister of shirking responsibility. "This is his way of saying he wants to push back boats and shirk responsibilities to accept asylum seekers landing by boat," he told the ABC.
"They don't have not enough food, not enough water and this is an international humanitarian imperative that Australia should respond to along with its friends and allies."
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