An apparent attempt by an asylum seeker boat to circumvent Australia for New Zealand has highlighted how undesirable Australia has become as a safe haven for refugees, according to experts in the field.
Locals at a Geraldton cafe looked on stunned as a boat carrying 66 to 72 Sri Lankan asylum seekers entered the busy Mid West port on Tuesday.
It was the furthest south a boat carrying asylum seekers had reached in recent history.
Geraldton is about 430 kilometres north of Perth, and more than 2000 kilometres south of the usual interception area for unauthorised boat arrivals, off Christmas Island.
Steve Ranch, who manages the local cafe, said locals watched a crowded wooden fishing boat, about 20 metres long, about 12pm on Tuesday.
“At first people weren’t sure what was going on,” Mr Ranch said.
“We thought it was a hoax or a publicity stunt, but then we saw the customs towing it away.”
Two local men testing the motor of a dinghy are said to have come across the vessel about 500 metres offshore.
Those on board were close enough to the West Australian coast to walk ashore, according to patrons at the cafe.
But the banners the asylum seekers carried suggested they weren’t headed for Australia at all.
Rather, the group of men, women and children, were attempting to reach New Zealand.
Curtin University Centre for Human Rights and Education researcher Caroline Fleay said the attempt to skirt Australia came as those who arrive here face lengthy detention and the prospect of being held offshore indefinitely.
“I think what it says about our country is that we have become increasingly hostile as a country towards people who come here, the majority of who have been consistently found to be refugees,” Dr Fleay said.
“The more barriers we put in place to prevent people coming to Australia and making a claim for refugee status, the more we’re carrying out acts of cruelty to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.”
Refugee Rights Action Network advocate Sarah Ross said the arrival was highly unusual, but a boat had similarly turned up at a Darwin port last year.
“I think people are so desperately seeking asylum that they’re willing to go anywhere,” she said.
Australian Lawyers Alliance committee member Jonathan Davies said New Zealand had become a far more attractive option for those seeking protection.
“They won’t be imprisoned in New Zealand, they’ll be accommodated and treated properly,” he said.
“We don’t honour the spirit of the treaties that we’ve signed up to and our politicians actively encourage the public to have disregard for international law and we punish the very people who come to us for protection.
“One day we’ll be called to account for it.”
He said the Australian system saw asylum seekers “punished without trial” by being held in detention while their claims for refugee status were processed.
Late Tuesday afternoon the Sri Lankan group had been unofficially detained in Geraldton as authorities prepared to transport them to Christmas Island. (WAToday)
