Australia May Take in Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers
2009-11-12 11:25
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says Australia may take in some Sri Lankan asylum seekers. The group is now on a customs ship off the coast of Indonesia.
[Stephen Smith, Australian Foreign Minister]:
"Some of them have already been, on my advice, already been assessed by UNHCR as mandated refugees. And others remain to fall for consideration by the UNHCR in Indonesia."
Smith spoke with reporters on the sidelines at the APEC summit in Singapore.
He said that people with refugee status aboard the Oceanic Viking can fall under a resettlement program that runs in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Europe.
[Stephen Smith, Australian Foreign Minister]:
"There is a requirement on a regular basis for the Oceanic Viking to obtain diplomatic clearance. We have regarded that, and it is being treated as effectively an administrative matter. It's rolled over on a regular basis, it will be rolled over again at the end of this week. So I've seen some people seek to suggest that somehow there's a timetable or a deadline or an issue. It's not. That'll be done in a normal routine regular way."
Smith added that both Australia and Indonesia will work patiently for a peaceful outcome.
