FOURTEEN asylum seekers who allegedly hijacked a ship off the Sri Lankan coast in a bid to reach Australia have been found and sent home, the Department of Immigration says.
The group of Sri Lankan nationals was detected and intercepted northwest of the Cocos Islands by Australian authorities late on Thursday.
There were 15 people on board the vessel Chejan, which was involved in the allegedly hijacking incident on October 13.
Fourteen of them were returned to Sri Lanka from the Cocos Islands on a charter flight on Saturday afternoon.
One of the boat people could not be sent home on Saturday, but the department has indicated he will be deported in coming days.
The Sri Lankans held no visas and made no claims for protection, nor did they raise any issues that engaged Australia's international obligations, the department said.
The boat had been missing until it was intercepted late on Thursday north-west of the Cocos Islands by ACV Hervey Bay.
The group was accused of seizing the Chejan, a fishing trawler, and attacking a number of its crew.
At the time, Sri Lanka's high commissioner to Australia, Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, said the missing fishing trawler was a known people-smuggling vessel that was being used by six crew for fishing when it was apparently taken.
Five of the crew went overboard with one remaining on board.
Three were missing at sea, presumed drowned, and two were taken back to Galle Harbour after being rescued by two merchant vessels.
The pair had initially told police that the trawler had been attacked by about 40 suspected illegal immigrants carrying swords who arrived in four small boats and overpowered the crew.
Details about the alleged hijacking remained sketchy, as did the whereabouts of the vessel.
Australian Federal Police were assessing reports of the incident and liaising with Sri Lankan authorities.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott called for a full investigation into the incident.
"If people look to have committed very serious criminal offences on the way to Australia, well obviously people should be treated as those who have committed or at least allegedly committed criminal offences," he said last week.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Asylum boat 'hijackers' sent back
Dengan url
http://tempatistirahatan.blogspot.com/2012/10/asylum-boat-hijackers-sent-back.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Asylum boat 'hijackers' sent back
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Asylum boat 'hijackers' sent back
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar