Australia rejects asylum charge

The Indonesians do not want the Kurds either

Australia has rejected the accusation that it is using Indonesia as a "dumping ground" for asylum seekers.

The UN refugee agency said this week Australia violated its obligation to refugees by sending a boatload of Turkish Kurds to the country.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone has said the action was taken under "regional co-operation arrangements".

Australia has often criticised in recent years for its hardline policy on immigration.

"Is Australia treating Indonesia as a dumping ground? - certainly not," Ms Vanstone told ABC radio.

"These are regional co-operation arrangements whereby someone can be returned to Indonesian waters and then go back to Indonesia."

Indonesian officials have accused Australia of sending people back to their country it did not want to accept.

The 14 Turkish Kurds who attempted to claim asylum in Australia last week were towed back out to Indonesian waters after their Indonesian fishing boat reached Melville Island, 80 km (50 miles) north of Darwin.

Indonesia does not want to offer the Turkish Kurds refugee status either.

Tough policy

The UNHCR said it had not been given access to the asylum seekers in order to decide whether they had the right to claim asylum under the 1951 Refugee Convention, to which Australia is a signatory.

The navy acted under a recently passed law which precludes boat people from applying for asylum if they land on the northern islands

Australia's policies towards asylum-seekers who arrive illegally have become among the toughest in the developed world since it emerged that organised gangs were using Indonesia as a stepping-stone for smuggling illegal migrants from the Middle East and South Asia onto its territory.

However, Canberra does offer thousands of annual resettlement places to people recognised as genuine refugees elsewhere.

The UNHCR has called on Indonesia not to deport the asylum-seekers under the spirit of international law even though Jakarta is not a signatory to the 1951 convention.

Following its ejection from Australian waters, the Kurds' boat finally beached in Indonesia's Molucca Islands from which they were flown to Jakarta after being detained by local police.

The state of the asylum seekers' health has been described as "poor".