People smugglers can `rot in hell`: Rudd

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has defended Labor's efforts to combat illegal boat
arrivals in the face of opposition claims that the government has gone soft on
border protection.
Mr Rudd said his government had dedicated more resources than any Australian
government in history to combat the "evil scum" of people smugglers and was prepared
to commit more resources if necessary.
"People smugglers are the vilest form of human life," Mr Rudd said on Friday.
"They trade on the tragedy of others and that is why they should rot in jail, and in
my own view, rot in hell."
The political row spilled into Friday as investigators came no closer to explaining
how a boat carrying 49 mostly Afghan men, including two crew, exploded, killing
three men and seriously injuring 31.
A Defence spokesman said that five navy personnel had been treated for minor
injuries received in the explosion that occurred a day after the vessel had been
intercepted off Ashmore Reef.
It also emerged, amid government warnings that there would be more boat arrivals,
that Indonesian authorities arrested 68 Afghan migrants at a hotel in Jakarta as
they were planning to make their way illegally to Australia.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull called on Mr Rudd to sit down with the coalition
and work out an effective border protection policy.
"Now we need effective policies. Policies that work. Policies that will bring an end
to this evil and loathsome trade," Mr Turnbull said.
"We had policies that effectively did that."
But Mr Rudd said Australia was experiencing a "global phenomenon" of rising numbers
of refugees fleeing nations affected by civil unrest and war.
"That's why this government maintains its hardline, tough, targeted approach to
maintaining border protection for Australia," Mr Rudd said.
"That's why we have dedicated more resources to combat people smuggling than any
other government in Australian history."
The boat, which was intercepted by navy patrol boats near Ashmore Reef off the
north-west coast of WA on Wednesday, exploded into flames and sank early on
Thursday.
Immigration Minister Chris Evans said it would be some time before it is known what
caused the blast or if it was true, as WA Premier Colin Barnett claimed, that asylum
seekers doused the boat with petrol.
"One thing we learned from the 'children overboard' affair is that politicians
shouldn't be making claims about things they don't know," Senator Evans said.
He warned there would be more boat arrivals in the future with most likely to keep
coming from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"There's a lot of activity as people are seeking safe haven and I think the threat
of more arrivals is high," he said.
The destroyed boat is the 13th to arrive on Australian shores since July 1 last year
with a total of 428 potential asylum seekers according to Department of Immigration
figures.
A report released in late March by the United Nations Refugee Agency shows that
while arrival numbers in Australia increased by nine per cent last year, this was
lower than the 12 per cent increase of arrivals overall in industrialised nations.
But criticism of the government came thick and fast from former Howard government
ministers including former immigration ministers Philip Ruddock and Kevin Andrews,
who both said Labor's softened policy was the cause of the influx.
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer said there was no doubt because he knew
that Indonesian people smugglers had been very interested in the Australian 2007
federal election results.
"These people hope that we run as slack or as lax a policy as possible because that
is how they maximise their profits," Mr Downer said.