Danna Vale (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Will the minister confirm that Australians have been arrested in Yemen, and what action is the government taking in relation to these arrests?

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

First, can I thank the honourable member for Hughes for her question and her interest. The Yemeni authorities have confirmed that they have arrested a number of people whom they suspect of having been involved with terrorist activities. In the broad, we welcome the determination by Yemeni authorities to address terrorism. This is a country where there have been a number of terrorist attacks over the years—most prominently the attack on the USS Cole but also there have been attacks that Australians have been caught up in over the years.

Amongst those who have been arrested are three Australians, who were among a group. There were not four as has been suggested by some but three. Two of those Australians were born in Australia and one of them was born in Poland and became an Australian citizen during the 1980s. We do not have any confirmation of the official charges at this stage, but we understand that the men were detained on terrorist charges, including attempting to smuggle arms to Somalia. These are very serious charges and the government, of course, would be deeply concerned if it turns out that they are true.

In spite of this, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as usual, will provide normal consular assistance to those who have been arrested. We will monitor the welfare of those people and we will assist them to ensure that they have access to lawyers and to an appropriate judicial process. The British Embassy in Yemen is giving assistance—we do not have an embassy in Yemen—and officers from the Australian Embassy in Riyadh will continue to seek access to those Australians who have been detained. Finally, the department is in constant contact, as the House would expect, with the next of kin both here and in Yemen.