The Australian government's hard-line position on illegal immigrants was under direct attack this week by asylum seekers unhappy with the asylum they were given. As many as 1,000 asylum seekers rioted at a relocation center built and operated by Australia but located in the neighboring country of Papua New Guinea.

The cause of the rioting was the realization by a number of the asylum seekers that they ultimately would be not allowed into Australia but either made to settle in Papua New Guinea or returned home to the countries they originally fled from. Unsatisfied with those prospects, they set fires in the center and breached internal and perimeter fences, enabling a number of them to escape.

Australia, under both the prior left-wing Labor government and the current right-wing Liberal-National coalition government, has pledged to "stop the boats." Asylum seekers, including many from the Middle East, have been arriving in significant numbers in recent years, causing political debates on the question of how many Australia can be expected to process and settle in the country. Proponents of a hard-line approach argue that it helps combat human trafficking, a cottage industry that has built up in recent years around transporting refugees and illegal immigrants.

In the current iteration of the "stop the boats" policy, Australia entered into an agreement with Papua New Guinea under which immigrants attempting to reach Australia by boat who are intercepted by the Australian navy can be transported to Papua New Guinea for the processing of their asylum claims. Individuals with valid claims and who are able to demonstrate that they fled their home countries because of threats of persecution would be resettled in Papua New Guinea, not Australia. As a measure of the current arrangement's success, it is believed that no boats containing refugees have landed in Australia in almost a month. In the same period last year, more than 400 refugees landed.

Questions remain over whether Papua New Guinea, an impoverished country in its own right, has the resources and the governmental wherewithal to fulfill its obligations both under the agreement and under international law with regard to the detainees. But Canberra is insistent that these refugees will not be coming to Australia under any circumstances. Offshore detention centers have been used, and a government spokesman has announced that approximately 30,000 refugees currently in Australia will not be permitted to stay.

Further diplomatic friction as a result of the current "stop the boat" policy has emerged with another near neighbor, Indonesia. Earlier this month, the Australian navy boarded and turned back an Indonesian boat trafficking refugees to Australia. Jakarta condemned the use of military force to stop smugglers of people from landing in Australia. In order to directly address the Indonesian role in transporting asylum seekers, Canberra's earlier plan was to buy hundreds of old boats in Indonesia in order to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. In the past, human traffickers had used particularly unseaworthy ships in order to gain the sympathy of the Australian boats sent to intercept them. At times, these boats would even be intentionally sabotaged in order to leave the Australians with no other option but to rescue the refugees from the water and transport them to the mainland.

The obligation to give asylum to refugees is enshrined in international law and well-established in most countries, including Australia. The concern today, however, is that many of those seeking asylum are in fact simply economic migrants in search of a better life for themselves and their families. Such desires are perfectly reasonable and unsurprising. However, there are legitimate policies and procedures in place to cater to those individuals in Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and numerous other countries that have people who wish to settle in Australia. Instead of complying with those requirements and waiting for official approval, many Australians fear that a growing number of these people have decided to simply "jump the queue" and petition for asylum, if they can reach Australian territory.

It cannot be ignored or dismissed that while in transit to Australia, these refugees allegedly fleeing persecution in their home countries pass several other countries where those threats of persecution do not exist. Further, inherent in the concept of refugees is that such individuals are leaving because of the persecution they face and should be glad to return to their home countries when the persecution has stopped. Permanent resettlement seems to directly undermine the factual basis of the asylum seekers' claim.

At its heart, the "stop the boats" policy is about Australia's exerting its sovereignty over its borders and its immigration policy. Although it's controversial, Australians seem committed to maintaining control over their own country, even when it entails diplomatic difficulties and negative publicity.

Timothy Spangler is a writer and commentator who divides his time between Los Angeles and London. His radio show, "The Bigger Picture with Timothy Spangler," airs every Sunday night from 10 p.m. to midnight Pacific time on KRLA AM 870. To find out more about Timothy Spangler and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.