Boat people face lifetime ban from Australia

SYDNEY — Australia moved on Sunday to bar any refugee or asylum-seeker who arrives in the country illegally by boat from ever being able to apply for a visa, even as tourists or for business. The lifetime ban will be put to parliament when it next sits, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying it was necessary to send an “absolutely, unflinching, unequivocal message” that boatpeople will never be allowed in Australia. “This is a battle of will between the Australian people, represented by its government, and the criminal gangs of people-smugglers,” he said. “You should not underestimate the scale of the threat. These people-smugglers are the worst criminals imaginable. They have a multibillion-dollar business. “We have to be very determined to say no to their criminal plans.” Amendments to the migration act would be backdated to mid-2013, when former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd declared: “As of today, asylum-seekers who come here by boat without a visa will never be settled in Australia.” — AFP