Australia passes tough immigration bill

The Australian parliament’s lower house passed a bill today to force all asylum-seekers who arrive in the country by boat to be sent to island detention camps.

The legislation, which must still pass the senate, was drafted after Indonesia strongly protested at an earlier Australian decision to accept 43 asylum seekers from the restive Indonesian province of Papua as refugees.

Three governing Liberal Party members, Petro Georgiou, Russell Broadbent and Judi Moylan, broke ranks with their party and voted against the bill, which was passed by the house of representatives by 78 votes to 62.

Under the bill, asylum-seekers are likely to be sent to the impoverished south Pacific island nation of Nauru. Australia plans to refuse to accept them even if they prove to be genuine refugees.