People-smuggling arrest as Nauru detention numbers dwindle to 10

Man whose vessel was intercepted by Sri Lankan navy while allegedly trying to smuggle six passengers to Australia will face charges.

A man whose vessel was intercepted by the Sri Lankan navy while allegedly trying to smuggle six passengers to Australia has been arrested and will face charges, as the number of asylum-seekers in Nauru’s regional processing centre dwindles to 10.

The Australian has also confirmed that only four children are being held on the Pacific island nation as the Morrison government seeks to neutralise the issue of children in offshore detention ahead of the election.

There are now 594 asylum-seekers who attempted to come to Australia by boat in Papua New Guinea and 428 in Nauru, of whom 418 are residing in the ­community.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton yesterday praised regional efforts to crack down on people-smugglers but noted the Morrison government still “continued to clean up the legacy of Labor’s border failure to this day”.

“I recognise and appreciate the efforts of the Sri Lankan government and all of our regional partners to combat the criminal people-smuggling syndicates,” Mr Dutton said. “It was only a short time ago, in 2007, that the Labor Party opened up our borders to people-smugglers, resulting in over 8000 children going into ­detention and 1200 deaths at sea.”

In August 2016, the Sri Lankan navy stopped a vessel with six passengers that was allegedly trying to travel to Australia.

Sri Lanka’s human smuggling investigation unit informed the AFP in December that it had ­arrested a Sri Lankan man in relation to the incident. He was charged with “facilitating persons to leave Sri Lanka”, contrary to the Immigrants and Emigrants Act.

The government has accused Labor of weakening the offshore processing regime by supporting a plan to allow medical evacuations to Australia from Nauru if recommended by a panel of doctors.

Under the proposed shake-up, the immigration minister would have the final discretion to reject a transfer only if it posed a threat to security as defined in the ASIO Act.

There are conflicting views on whether this would capture those who had committed violent offences, including against children.

“If elected, Bill Shorten will return to Kevin Rudd’s border policies,” Mr Dutton said. “This will only result in more boats, more children in detention and more deaths at sea.”

The update for Operation Sovereign Borders for December also shows that four detainees who arrived in Australia before 2014 were voluntarily removed. There were no involuntary removals.