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July 31st, 2013 
A little boy gets ready to board a bus to the detention centre after arriving at Christmas Island on the HMAS Maryborough.
Source: News Limited
PEOPLE smugglers are piling women and children on to boats bound for Australia in the latest test of the government’s new PNG deal with more than 1400 people arriving since it was struck.
The new influx of families came as Immigration Minister Tony Burke was unable to say if a memorandum of understanding with its new resettlement partner had been finished by a deadline on Wednesday.
Confusion over whether the memorandum had been finalised by the deadline set by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd when he announced the deal came as the government was due to make a second attempt last night to take the first group of men designated for resettlement in PNG to Manus Island.
Asylum Seekers from the HMAS Maryborough arrive at Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island.
Source: News Limited
The first group of about 40 men were due to be flown off Christmas Island on Tuesday night but bad weather prevented the flight leaving.
Families may remain in Australia for months as the government scrambles to try to make camps on Manus appropriate for women and children.
Children were among 61 Iranian asylum seekers rescued from a sinking boat off Java on Sunday night and returned to Indonesia on a merchant vessel which saved them.
Youngsters could be seen lining the deck of tanker Chemtran Ruben as it pulled Cilacap port in Central Java.
More than 10 children, including babies, arrived at Christmas Island on Wednesday from another vessel with 104 on board which got into distress on Tuesday.
“This is not surprising as families cannot be sent to Manus Island or Nauru due to Labor’s failure to establish any appropriate family facilities for offshore processing in almost a year of operation,” Opposition Immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said.
“Labor appear to have missed another deadline today with their PNG plan. Having said the MOU with PNG for offshore processing would be revised by July 31, nothing has been released. “There is also no legal agreement on resettlement with PNG that compels them not to return anyone to Australia.”
The number of children and family groups reaching Christmas Island has created difficulties for contractor Serco and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship – it has converted two men-only compounds to family accommodation and guards say there are plans to detain families inside the main detention centre at North West Point which has been strictly for single adult men. The Immigration Department declined to comment on this.
The agreement Mr Rudd struck with PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill stated the memorandum, replacing an existing one related to the Manus processing centre, would be finalised yesterday.
Transfers could begin without the MOU being finalised, the original agreement said.
The atmosphere was tense at Christmas Island as Australian Federal Police prepared for the first transfer.
Guards from contractor Serco’s emergency response team feared trouble after heavy mist prevented a government charter jet from landing on Christmas Island to collect the detainees from the airport on Tuesday night, but the group was returned to a fortified compound at the detention centre without incident.
One immigration worker said tensions remained high “because they’re not happy about going” but added “the ERT boys say they’re quiet at the moment”.
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