Scott Morrison will not confirm claims a boat of asylum seekers is in trouble off the coast of Christmas Island.
Scott Morrison will not confirm claims a boat of asylum seekers is in trouble off the coast of Christmas Island. Photo: Andrew Meares


The Australian government is refusing to comment on reports
circulating on Christmas Island that 153 Tamil asylum seekers have been
handed over to the Sri Lankan navy.



The asylum seekers, who have not communicated with civilians
since Saturday morning, were on a boat allegedly intercepted by the
Australian navy near Christmas Island, president of the Shire of
Christmas Island Gordon Thomson said. They were then handed over to Sri
Lanka’s military. 




Refugee advocates lost contact with the boat on Saturday morning, sparking fears the phone on board had been confiscated.



A spokesman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said the
government’s policy was that it did not confirm nor otherwise comment on
reports of on-water activities in relation to Operation Sovereign
Borders.




But human rights lawyers have been desperately trying to
contact the asylum seekers, saying it is profoundly concerning that the
plight of these people remains in a shroud of secrecy.



Fairfax Media understands a group of lawyers have obtained
four names and the dates of birth of passengers believed to be on the
vessel, which had spent two weeks travelling from India.



The existence of a second vessel carrying 50 asylum seekers
has not been confirmed, but Fairfax Media understands it too may have
departed from somewhere other than Indonesia.



Human rights lawyer David Manne said Australians had the
right to know whether the Abbott government was upholding its
international obligations in providing protection to people needing
protection.



"These people appear to be unable to access basic information
about their rights and we don’t know where they are,’’ Mr Manne, the
executive director of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, said.



"They can’t get in contact with anyone and critical questions about their fate continue to be raised and remain unanswered.’’



Director of the Human Rights Legal centre Daniel Webb agreed,
saying that a government confident its actions were lawful and decent
shouldn’t go to such extraordinary lengths to prevent scrutiny.



"There are serious questions about whether our government is
complying with domestic and international laws. The answers to those
questions depend on the facts but our government won’t give us any,’’ Mr
Webb said.



On Tuesday, Mr Morrison would not take questions from
reporters in Canberra after he gave a pep talk to Customs officers,
congratulating them on the "difficult’’ job they perform.



"We know the work we ask you to do is difficult, the
decisions we ask you to take in the context of the policies can be hard
but the border protection command has never flinched,’’ he told Customs
officers.



Prime Minister Tony Abbott also refused to answer questions
about the possible return of the Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka, only
repeating that the government was "stopping the boats’’.



"I’m not going to comment on the operational details of what
happens on the water but obviously we have been successful up till
now,’’ he told ABC radio.



Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the
government should be doing everything to offer protection to these
people.



"I am extremely concerned about the children who were on this
boat, the minister must confirm what is happening to these
children," she said.



"We shouldn’t be deporting these people, we should be assessing their claims here in Australia."



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