Peter Dutton hails turning back of asylum boat to Vietnam

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says the turning back of 46 asylum-seekers to Vietnam sends a powerful message.

The Australian Navy’s turning back of 46 asylum-seekers to Vietnam demonstrates that “the illegal way to Australia is closed”, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says.

The Coalition has been reluctant discuss the supply ship HMAS Choules’s secret mission to the South China Sea, in which 46 people were handed over to communist authorities.

The mission, revealed in media reports, prompted a sharp rebuke from Vietnamese Australians who accused the Coalition of returning asylum-seekers “directly back to persecution”.

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In a statement today, Mr Dutton said the joint Australian-Vietnamese operation demonstrated the government’s commitment to “returning boats that try to reach our shores illegally by turning them back where it’s safe to do so”.

“This commitment was demonstrated a few weeks ago when the governments of Australia and Vietnam worked together to disrupt a people smuggling venture carrying 46 Vietnamese nationals who attempted to travel illegally by boat to Australia,” the statement read.

“The 46 people were able to be safely returned to Vietnam after we were assured that they did not have a claim to protection and that we had met our international obligations.

“This would have not been possible without the assistance of the Vietnamese Government.

“This latest turn back should act as a reminder to people seeking to come to Australia illegally that you should not be under any illusion that things have changed.

“Operation Sovereign Borders is ensuring that the illegal way to Australia is closed.”

The Vietnamese Community in Australia, in a letter to Tony Abbott and Mr Dutton last month, conveyed its “strong disapproval” of the government’s actions.

“Australia should always properly and completely assess the asylum-seekers’ claims to protection and should not have returned the asylum-seekers directly back to persecution,” president Tri Vo wrote on April 20.

“This is especially the case when international organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have noted that the human rights situation in Vietnam deteriorated significantly since 2013 as the Vietnamese authorities have intensified the crackdown on critics.

“All governments and whatever the policies, should not operate in secrecy as this undermines the values of our democracy and the rule of law.”

According to Human Rights Watch, Vietnam’s Communist Party uses repressive measures to suppress “virtually all forms of political dissent”.