Australia: Australian Shores

Asylum Seekers Dept: News of the high seas drama broke as Australia's Senate was due to pass strict new laws Thursday aimed at deterring the waves of asylum seekers from across Asia and the Middle East who have been making the dangerous journey to Australian shores, according to Vancouver Sun. Clare said they could be deported to tent camps in the Pacific countries of Nauru or Papua New Guinea under the new law. The opposition has called for the asylum seekers, all men, to be charged with piracy for using threats to divert the 265-meter 870-foot ship and cANBERRA, Australia - The captain of a merchant ship bound for Singapore changed course for Australia this week, fearing that desperate asylum seekers he had rescued in Indonesian waters posed a threat to his crew, officials said Thursday. One of the asylum seekers fell overboard before the rescue and is believed to have drowned, while the surviving 67 have been in an Australian immigration detention centre since Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.