Tough love? Australia's Abbott says turning away migrants saves lives.
Facing an immigration crisis, some European politicians seem tempted by Australia's hardline policies. But human rights advocates warn the result may be more deaths, not fewer.聽
Facing an immigration crisis, some European politicians seem tempted by Australia's hardline policies. But human rights advocates warn the result may be more deaths, not fewer.聽
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says there is a clear solution for the chaos unfolding as unprecedented numbers of migrants race towards Europe: turn them back.
The ongoing immigration crisis intensified this week, particularly in Budapest, Hungary, where thousands of migrants remain stranded in streets around the train station.聽Pictures of Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian toddler who drowned off the coast of Turkey, also elicited calls for greater immigration quotas from citizens, clergy, and lawmakers.
Mr. Abbott, however, firmly stands by Australia鈥檚 hardline policy: the Navy routinely sends migrant boats back to Indonesia, where most began their journey; settles them in other countries; or redirects asylum seekers to offshore processing centers, which many claim are rife with abuses.聽
The Prime Minister argues that such tough tactics save lives. "If you want to stop the deaths, if you want to stop the drownings you have got to stop the boats,鈥� he told ABC Radio on Friday.聽
Abbott has encouraged European leaders to follow suit, and they may be listening. On Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it would be a 鈥渕oral failure鈥� to encourage migrants, and told them, 鈥淧lease don鈥檛 come,鈥澛爏uggesting that it would be safer to stay in Turkey, a frequent stop en route to Western Europe.
Hungary has attracted criticism for a recent set of like-minded actions. In addition to holding migrants in limbo in Budapest, where authorities have refused to let migrants journey on to other countries before they are registered,聽Hungary is constructing a fence along its border with Serbia. Moreover, Orban has said explicitly that he does not want Muslim migrants, defending Hungary鈥檚 鈥渞ight to decide鈥� who lives there.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has also hesitated to accept migrants beyond the 5,000 Syrian refugees the UK has taken in over four years.聽Instead, Cameron has focused efforts on stabilizing conditions in migrants鈥� home countries, as well as supporting refugee camps in the Middle East.
But on Friday, Mr. Cameron changed his mind, announcing that Britain would take in "thousands more" Syrian refugees, according to Reuters.
Cameron did not specify how many migrants the UK would take in, but said they would need to come from Middle Eastern refugee camps, to spare them 鈥渢he hazardous journey which has tragically cost so many of their lives.鈥�
However, many critics question whether hardline policies will improve migrants鈥� chances, or drive them towards more dangerous paths.
Australia鈥檚 offshore detention centers are the focus of particularly strong condemnation. On Thursday, the editorial board of The New York Times called the policy 鈥渦nconscionable鈥澛燼nd possibly in violation of international law.
Despite what the Times call 鈥減urgatory鈥� conditions, detailed in an Australian Senate report and brought to light by dozens of center employees, a law enacted July 1 makes it illegal for staff to publicly discuss their work, making it near-impossible to report abuses.
As the Australian Human Rights Law Center has pointed out, at one center, on Manus Island, more refugees have died than been resettled.聽