Australia defends controversial Aborigines policy

James Anaya, a UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, has criticised the policy, saying it violated international obligations on human rights by imposing radical restrictions on Aborigines during a crackdown on child sex abuse in the communities.

Under the intervention programme, tough restrictions were imposed on Aborigines in the Northern Territory in response to a report that found child sex abuse was rampant in remote indigenous communities.

[...] on Friday the Australian government rejected Anaya's harsh criticisms, who said the aboriginal minority still suffers from "entrenched racism".

Jenny Macklin, the Australian indigenous affairs minister, said she knows the programme was controversial and even acknowledged that some parts of the crackdown two years ago were contentious.

"We as a government and as a country have to confront the realities of indigenous people, particularly in remote parts of Australia," she said.

Macklin said the government's priority was to protect the rights of indigenous children who are subject to high levels of abuse, and to do something to fix the Third World living conditions faced by many of the Aborigines.