Despite yesterday asserting that European nations could learn a lot from Australia‘s hyper-strict immigration policies, Prime Minister Tony Abbott isn’t exactly finding unwavering support from his senior diplomats.
“The only way you can stop the deaths is in fact to stop the boats. That’s why it is so urgent that the countries of Europe adopt very strong policies that will end the people smuggling trade across the Mediterranean.”
But Bishop, speaking in Berlin after a meeting with German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, instead chose to take a far more diplomatic route, rather than attempt to push domestic sloganism into the international discourse.
“I’m very conscious of the fact that the geographic circumstances are very different between Europe and Australia and I’m very conscious of the fact that what works in one circumstance may or may not work in another.”
“Our PM has offered up the experience of Australia for others to consider, but it is for the governments and regions to make their own decisions as to what they believe will work to resolve these issues.”
However, Bishop did assert the Coalition Government‘s policies concerning asylum seekers – that people arriving via boat will not be settled in Australia, and will not have their claims for asylum heard. The off-shore detention centres in places like Nauru and Manus Island, where asylum seekers are held on a mandatory first-choice basis for periods of time that are now exceeding 400 days on average, were not discussed by the Foreign Minister.
“As a result of the policies we’ve taken, there have been no boats come to Australia since January of 2014, no deaths at sea as a result. So we believe that the approach that we have taken has worked for us.”
Many more asylum seekers are expected to attempt the trip across the Mediterranean – on a much larger scale than the issue Australia faces. European leaders are meeting in Brussels, where their response to the crisis is expected to be announced as an increased search and rescue operation, rather than the blanket turn-back policies that the Abbott Government has adopted which have drawn the ire of the international community, including the United Nations.
