Australian Immigration Daily News

The following important information from a Joint Press Conference with Major General Craig Furini, Commander Operation Sovereign Borders, and Minister for Home Affairs, Australia, Peter Dutton, in Colombo, Sri Lanka:

DUTTON

I want to send a very clear message today to people smugglers both in Sri Lanka and across the region. Australia has just held a recent election and the Government has been re-elected, and on that basis, our policy in relation to the protection and security of our borders has not and will not change.

We've been very clear and consistent in our message over a long period of time that Australia is a very generous nation. We take a number of people through our refugee and humanitarian program each year. In fact, on a per capita basis, the most successful nation behind Canada in the world in terms of the numbers of people we bring in, but we will never bring in people by boat.

People who come to Australia through our visa program, through our refugee humanitarian program, come by plane. They make an application through the High Commission or through our Government and through the visa process, and those visas will be assessed on their merit and we will decide who comes to our country in those circumstances, but we will not allow people to arrive in Australia by boat.

FURINI

My name is Major General Craig Furini and I am the Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders, charged with protecting Australia's borders from illegal maritime people smuggling and preventing people from risking their lives at sea.

I'm here with the Minister to further enhance our already strong relationship countering criminal maritime people smuggling. That is why I have next to me today Vice Admiral De Silva, Commander of the Navy, a great friend and an ally in this cause.

The operation I lead, Operation Sovereign Borders, is a multi-layered operation, harnessing the strength of 16 Australian Government agencies and international partners, such as Sri Lanka, to prevent illegal maritime people smuggling. We do that by denying anybody who tries such a journey from settling in Australia and by maintaining a continuous, strong presence of ships and planes to Australia's north on our maritime and air approaches, including approaches to Cocos Keeling and Christmas islands, that Sri Lankan illegal immigrants target and have targeted in the past.

This is evidenced by the recent intercept of a people smuggling vessel at Cocos Island and the rapid return of 20 Sri Lankan nationals to Sri Lanka on 29 May. But by far, the most desirable objective of Operation Sovereign Borders is to deter and disrupt people from getting on boats in the first instance. This is not possible without the excellent cooperation from regional partners – partners such as Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka's Coastguard, Navy and Police do great work in cooperating on this threat.

Source: Peter-Dutton-and-Major-General-Craig-Furini-Commander-Operation-Sovereign-Borders---Columbo-Sri-Lanka.pdf