Australia’s opposition proposes plan to handle influx of asylum-seekers

Australia’s opposition says it will adopt a military plan to handle the influx of the asylum-seekers struggling to reach the country’s borders by boat if it takes over the reins of the government.

Conservative Party leader Tony Abbott said on Thursday that he will put a three-star commander in charge of a joint agency taskforce to deal with asylum-seekers if his party comes to power.

“The crisis on our borders has become a national emergency” that requires “the discipline and focus of a targeted military operation,” he told reporters in Brisbane.

“This is one of the most serious external situations that we have faced in many a long year. It must be tackled with decisiveness, with urgency, with the appropriate level of seriousness.”

Abbott also stated, “That is why we need to have a senior military officer in operational control of this very important national emergency.”

The comment came almost a week after the Australian government toughened its policy on asylum-seekers, who have been risking their lives on leaky boats to reach Australia.

The ruling Labor Party announced that those trying to arrive by boat will be sent to neighboring Papua New Guinea instead for processing and resettlement.

On Wednesday, nine people died when an Australian-bound vessel sank off Indonesia.

More than 15,000 asylum-seekers have made the perilous journey to Australia since the beginning of 2013.

There have recently been protests in the suburbs of Sydney in objection to the tough policy of the administration of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd against asylum-seekers.