Australian Prime Minister Mr John Howard today pledged to continue Australia's hard line against asylum seekers in the face of international condemnation.
International agencies have called for an inquiry into Australia's detention of immigrants, and Indonesia has denounced Howard's "Pacific solution" policy of sending asylum seekers to third countries for processing.
Australia's human rights watchdog, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC), yesterday announced a new inquiry into the detention of children in immigration camps.
But Amnesty International called for the investigation to be widened to consider the arbitrary nature of detention. The United Nations convention on the rights of the child states detention should be used only as a last resort, Amnesty said.
Mr Howard said although the government would co-operate with the HREOC inquiry, it would not lead to an easing of its stance on asylum seekers.
He claimed children were sent to Australia unaccompanied by parents to force authorities to grant their family a visa.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Mr Hassan Wirayuda, visiting Australia to try and thaw relations cooled by East Timor and people-trafficking, said Australia's "Pacific solution" would fail in the long term.
Mr Wirayuda said he did not believe the processing of asylum seekers in countries such as Nauru and Papua New Guinea would deter people from trying to enter Australia.
AFP