ADELAIDE, Australia, March 16 (UPI) -- Sri Lankans seeking refuge in Australia will be sent to the island nation of Nauru instead.
The Australian authorities said 83 Sri Lankan asylum seekers will be sent to Nauru, adding that the move will discourage other potential illegal immigrants from coming into the country. All are men who were intercepted by the Australian navy last month in international waters.
The original plan had been to send them to Indonesia, from where they had initially set sail. Indonesia, however, refused to guarantee that they would not be sent back to Sri Lanka from there, which led Australia's immigration authorities to transfer them to Nauru instead.
"The government is committed to a strong border protection policy," Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews told reporters. "We are also committed to sending the strongest possible message of deterrence to people who would engage in the dangerous and unlawful activity of people smuggling."
