Australia talks tough on asylum-seekers

In this May 12, 2013 file photo, Iranian asylum seekers who were caught in Indonesian waters while sailing to Australia sit on a boat at Benoa port in Bali, Indonesia. Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 ruled that Australia’s detention of asylum seekers at a facility on the country’s Manus Island is unconstitutional. The Pacific island nation’s ruling could jeopardize Australia’s divisive policy of refusing to accept any asylum seekers who attempt to reach its shores by boat. The country pays Papua New Guinea and the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru to hold them in detention camps instead. AP File Photo

SYDNEY, Australia—Australia cannot be “misty-eyed” about boatpeople, the country’s prime minister said Thursday, the day after his immigration policy was thrown into disarray when Papua New Guinea ordered an offshore processing camp to close.

Malcolm Turnbull, who likely faces an election in coming weeks, said allowing even genuine refugees who arrived by boat to settle in Australia would encourage more people to make the risky journey.

READ: Ship diverts to Australia, fearing asylum seekers

“By stopping the people-smuggling we have stopped people drowning at sea,” he told reporters.

“We cannot be misty-eyed about this. We have to be very clear and determined in our national purpose.”

Canberra has a long-standing policy of sending boatpeople to processing centres in Papua New Guinea’s Manus island and the Pacific nation of Nauru.

Applicants who are deemed legitimate refugees are offered resettlement in PNG or Cambodia, but not admitted to Australia.

The policy was dealt a blow Wednesday when the PNG government ordered the Manus island facility to close after the supreme court ruled it was unconstitutional and illegal.

Canberra officials are set to hold talks with their Port Moresby counterparts next week on what to do with the 850 or so men held there.

But Turnbull was unequivocal.

“They will not come to Australia. That is absolutely clear and the PNG government knows that, understands that very well,” he told reporters.

“To do that would send a signal to the people-smugglers to get back into business, and that is utterly unacceptable.”

Boat arrivals have been halted since the government put in place its tough policies, compared to at least 1,200 people dying trying to reach Australia by sea between 2008 and 2013.

Australian media have reported the government is trying to negotiate deals with Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

READ: Australia in talks to send refugees to the Philippines

It also has a detention camp on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru, where an asylum-seeker on Wednesday set himself on fire during a visit by UN officials.

No timeframe for closing the Manus island facility has been provided.