Rising strife in Sri Lanka boosting people smuggling: Australia

Rising strife in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka is boosting the number of people using smugglers to reach Australia, Immigration Minister Chris Evans says।
As well, officials are seeing an increasing number of unaccompanied children on intercepted boats.
In the latest arrival, a vessel carrying 35 suspected asylum seekers was spotted off Ashmore Island, north-west of Western Australia, late on Tuesday.
The boat was the fifth to make it to Australian waters in recent months.
But 15 have been stopped in Indonesia in an operation led by Indonesian police, with the assistance of Australian Federal Police (AFP).
Australian officials were working hard to disrupt the people smugglers and respond to their new tactics, Senator Evans said.
Changed conditions in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka were pushing out people in both countries.
"The situation in Afghanistan has got very bad and as a result people are looking to flee," he told reporters.
"That is putting a lot of pressure as people seek to flee to Indonesia as a stepping stone to Australia."
Senator Evans said the intercepted boats were carrying many unaccompanied minors. "People have bought their eldest son a ticket." (AAP)