Interesting....Hope Abbott & co manage this wellI genuinely wish...

Interesting....

Hope Abbott & co manage this well
I genuinely wish him well but the bar has been raised and 3 word slogans won't cut it now so let't see if he's up to the task

________________________
Mid-ocean standoff as Austrailan customs vessel tries to turn back asylum seeker boat to Indonesia

A mid-ocean stand-off between Australia and Indonesia may be developing late on Thursday night as a customs vessel tries to return a boatload of rescued asylum seekers to a reluctant Indonesia.

Up to 56 asylum seekers were rescued from their wooden boat in Indonesia’s search and rescue zone by an Australian ship on Thursday and, rather than taking them to Christmas Island, it is seeking to return them to Indonesia.

Australian authorities are liaising with their Indonesian counterparts in relation to a vessel that has requested assistance as the vessel is within Indonesia's Search and Rescue zone

Conflicting reports are emerging about the asylum seekers from the Indonesian search and rescue agency, Basarnas, and the Australian Customs department has declined to comment.

An Indonesian government source said the incident was now being supervised by Indonesia's high-powered Ministry for Politics, Security, Law and Human Rights and the Foreign Affairs Ministry, suggesting it has become an intensely political case.
Advertisement

Immigration minister Scott Morrison’s office released only a one-line statement late on Thursday saying: "Australian authorities are liaising with their Indonesian counterparts in relation to a vessel that has requested assistance as the vessel is within Indonesia's Search and Rescue zone”.

Basarnas’ deputy officer in charge, Adi Fachroni Azis earlier said Australia had “called us talking about evacuating the passengers [to Indonesia] but until now Indonesian authorities are still talking with their Australian counterparts. So far as I know, still no decision has been taken.”

On two occasions since the election of the Abbott government, rescued asylum seekers have been returned to Indonesian agencies in mid-ocean, ship-to-shop operations.

However, with tensions high over allegations of spying by Australia, and no agreement reached yet on a cooperative way of dealing with asylum seekers, the Indonesians may be reluctant to take the latest group.

Basarnas spokesman Mr Adi said the Rescue Coordination Centre in Australia had notified them of a distress call from a wooden asylum seeker boat at about 9.30am AEDT on Thursday morning.

The boat had reported engine trouble 57 nautical miles south of the Indonesian coast, and within Indonesia’s search and rescue zone.

But when HMAS Ballarat arrived about three hours later, the crew found the engine was in working order, so the Australian navy vessel sailed away.

“After they left, the engine apparently really was broken,” Mr Adi said.

It’s understood the Ballarat then returned to the location and removed the people.

It’s unclear if the people aboard the boat sabotaged the engine after the Ballarat left them for the first time.

However, if they did, it would highlight the risk of any Australian policy of attempting to turn-back even seaworthy boats to Indonesia.

That policy — a cornerstone of Tony Abbott’s election commitments — has been put on hold as the Australian government tries to negotiate an agreed position with Indonesia.

A meeting between Mr Morrison and the Indonesian justice and human rights minister Amir Syamsuddin last week failed to achieve any concrete commitments.

Comment was sought from Australian Customs

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/midocean-standoff-as-austrailan-customs-vessel-tries-to-turn-back-asylum-seeker-boat-to-indonesia-20131107-2x4qs.html#ixzz2jxxYlD15