deported

Crackdown on International Union Solidarity in Indonesia

Three Australian unionists, visiting Indonesia as part of a delegation to a South-East Asian asbestos conference, had their passports seized and were deported from Indonesia after visiting a picket line organised by transport workers in Jakarta.

The unionists, including Jackie Kriz, a member of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and President of Geelong Trades and Labour Council, have been barred from re-entering Indonesia for six months. They were told by the Indonesian department of immigration they could apply to have the ban lifted after that time.

Asylum seekers who reached Cocos Islands sent back to Sri Lanka

The 12 asylum seekers who fled Sri Lanka and reached the Cocos Islands on May 2 were all arrested on arrival at Colombo airport after being deported by Australian authorities on May 5. The group, which is believed to include children and an infant as young as one, were handed over to Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department. The immigration department refused to answer questions about the boat's arrival or the fate of its passengers, saying "we do not comment on operational matters".