Kevin Rudd’s open-ended boat policy
Is Kevin Rudd's aslyum seeker policy just a move to lure votes in the upcoming election and a mere political game?
With the election just a few weeks away, it was just a matter of time before Kevin Rudd came out making a statement to boost his election prospects and boy, did he come out with a bang?
The Prime Minister has announced a landmark reform to the asylum seeker policy wherein every asylum seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will be sent to Papua New Guinea henceforth. Additionally, anyone deemed to be on genuine refugee status with valid documents will then be settled in PNG and not Australia anymore. He has also stated that the government is on the look-out for another country to send asylum seekers to.
“From now on, any asylum seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as refugees. Asylum seekers taken to Christmas Island will be sent to Manus and elsewhere in PNG for assessment of their refugee status, if they are found to be genuine refugees they will be resettled in PNG”, said the PM. He further added, “I understand this is a hardline decision but our responsibility as a government is to ensure a robust system of border security and orderly migration on one hand as well as fulfilling our legal and compassionate obligations under the refugee convention on the other. Australians have had enough of seeing people drowning in the waters. Our country has had enough of people smugglers exploiting asylum seekers, seeing them drown in the high seas”.
Rudd is of the belief that this will discourage asylum seekers from making the dangerous journey to Australia by boat. As part of the agreement with PNG, the Manus Island Detention Centre is expected to undergo further expansion and revamp.
Well, it looks like Rudd has struck gold with this policy and that he would win the election hands down but this plan does have its share of ambiguity.
Australia will have to channel funds for university reforms in PNG, the development of a hospital, law & order initiatives as well as handling all resettlement costs for refugees. These expenses are predicted to run in billions and to make matters worse, the Manus Island detention centre is near its full capacity. Let’s not forget that as of today, there have been 15,610 boat arrivals in 2013 alone which places further stress on the budget.
Now, what do we know about PNG? According to Australia’s Foreign Affairs Department, travelers heading to PNG are constantly reminded of increasing cases of robbery, violence against women and the department advises people to move around in a group at night. So, in a nutshell, PNG is deemed unsafe even though it’s a country with lots of potential.
Coming back to the policy, most Australians have been vocal about their displeasure towards the escalating numbers of refugees entering the nation every year and while this new policy looks a winner, one must admit that it would not discourage people from risking their lives making the hazardous boat trip. Let’s not forget that this agreement with PNG is only for a year and by the end of 2014 we would know whether this policy has worked for Australia. However, there are no answers to questions such as where the money is going to come from, what happens when the detention centres reach full capacity? Will Australia have to organize funding for the ‘other’ place as well? Is this a move by Rudd to lure votes in the upcoming election and a mere political game?