Another boat arrives as UN slams freeze

The United Nations refugee agency has criticised the Rudd government for freezing the claims of Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers as another unauthorised boat arrived in Australian waters.

HMAS Ararat intercepted a vessel with 82 passengers on board on Friday morning.
The boat, found northeast of Christmas Island, takes to 43 the tally of asylum
seeker vessels that have entered Australian waters in 2010.
Five asylum seeker boats have arrived in Australian waters in the week since the
government declared Sri Lankan asylum seekers would have their claims frozen for
three months while those from Afghanistan would have to wait six months.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concern at the government's
policy changes.
"UNHCR is concerned that Australia's mandatory detention regime will apply to
affected Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers for prolonged periods, without clear
guidelines or effective judicial oversight," the UN agency said in a statement.
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor, however, trumpeted the measures for taking
account of "evolving circumstances" in those countries.
"The Australian government believes that asylum seekers should only be granted the
right to live in Australia if they are genuinely in need of protection," he said.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the latest arrival showed
Labor's policy changes were an election-year fix that would fail to solve the
problem of illegal arrivals.
The coalition has also questioned the government's claim that Denmark had also
delayed the processing for Sri Lankan asylum seekers.
"The attempted political fix by falsely implicating the government of Denmark risks
causing serious offence," the opposition's foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop
said.
Border Protection Command will take the latest arrivals, whose nationality is yet to
be determined, to Christmas Island where they will undergo security, identity and
health checks.