WA: Aust message to illegals starting to get through: Downer

AAP General News (Australia)
08-10-2000
WA: Aust message to illegals starting to get through: Downer

PERTH, Aug 10 AAP - Australia's strong message to potential illegal immigrants was
starting to get through, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.

"The refugee camps and things that have been set up in Australia, the Woomera incident
and so on, have sent a pretty strong message out," Mr Downer told reporters.

"It is starting to get through that Australia is a pretty tough country to go to.

"Illegal immigrants are, ipso facto, illegal and so they are not welcome.

"We're trying to track down and stop the illegal people traffic ... and we've had some success."

Mr Downer said the problem of illegal immigration was not confined to Australia.

"To put this into some perspective, this isn't an Australian problem it is a global
problem," he said.

"When I was in Iran the other day they told me that they had 2.5 million illegals in
Iran, and thousands and thousands have been flooding into Europe.

"It is a big, global problem and it is hard to stamp out.

"We are doing everything we can in Australia to stop it, without being unduly cruel."

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