Sydney - Amnesty International criticised Australia yesterday for focusing on waves of illegal entrants from Asia and the Middle East when government records showed far more illegal immigrants from Britain and the United States.
The human rights group questioned why boat people from Asia and the Middle East seeking refugee status were kept in spartan camps in Australia's remote north-west before repatriation under a mandatory detention policy.
Department of Immigration records available on the Internet show that as of December 31st, 1998 there were already 50,603 people illegally in Australia in breach of visa conditions.