The Australian government says a suspension on dealing with asylum claims for people from Sri Lanka was never meant to stop people smuggling.
The three month suspension expires this week, and political observers say Prime Minister Julia Gillard is expected to use the opportunity to revamp the asylum seeker policy.
Boats carrying asylum seekers have continued to arrive in Australian waters since the suspension was announced in April.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says the suspension is allowing the government to reassess conditions in Sri Lanka.
“We want to examine all of the things that we’ve done to date, redouble our efforts to see whether there’s more that we can do, but I don’t want to make the point, there’s no magic solution here, those people like Tony Abbott who pretend to the Australian community there’s an instant or magic or simplistic solution are just wrong.” – (Radio Australia News)
