Asylum seekers accuse Australia navy of abuse as boat towed to Indonesia

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By Aubrey Belford KUPANG, Indonesia (Reuters) - On New Year's day, 45 asylum seekers in a ramshackle wooden boat slid ashore on a small island off the Australian city of Darwin. Military personnel forced the asylum seekers back onto their wooden boat and towed it out to sea. Their accounts highlight just how far the newly elected conservative government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott is going to meet his election promise to "stop the boats" - a policy which involves towing vessels back to Indonesia, the main departure point for people-smuggling boats. In a statement in response to questions on the accusations from the five asylum seekers, Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison said he did not give "credibility to malicious and unfounded slurs".




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