MOSCOW, July 19 (RAPSI) - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced Friday that from here on out, all asylum seekers arriving by boat to Australia will be shipped off to Papua New Guinea.

Speaking at a joint press conference alongside Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, Rudd announced the following details of the new resettlement agreement the two countries had reached: “From now on, any asylum seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as refugees.”

He explained that those arriving by boat will be sent to Papua New Guinea for an assessment of eligibility for asylum. He continued, “If they are found to be genuine refugees they will be resettled in Papua New Guinea, an emerging economy with a strong future; a robust democracy which is also a signatory to the United Nations Refugees Convention. If they found not to be genuine refugees they may be repatriated to their country of origin or be sent to a safe third country other than Australia.”

An information sheet released by the Australian Government and ominously titled, “If you come here by boat without a visa you won’t be settled in Australia,” explains that the agreement will hold firm even in cases of children and unaccompanied minors with relatives in Australia.

With regard to the latter class, the sheet reads: “If anyone – including unaccompanied minors or their family members in Australia – undertakes to bypass proper migration pathways and instead pay people smugglers for a boat trip to Australia, they will be liable under the Migration Act for transfer from Australia to a regional processing country. Unaccompanied minors are no exception to this established process.”

Rudd explained that Australia and Papua New Guinea moved forward with the agreement based on three concerns.

First, Australian intelligence has indicated that based on advancements within the people smuggling industry, more and more people will attempt to gain entry to Australia by boat.

Second, each new boat carries an increased risk of drowning.

Third, in Rudd’s words: “People smugglers try to drum up business when there is human tragedy around the world. We know this from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, but the international community now faces a massive new outflow from Syria.”