Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith visits Sri Lanka today seeking help on tackling people smuggling, as a poll showed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s popularity has dropped amid a debate on his refugee policies.

Smith said he will hold talks on the issue with his counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama and also discuss how Australia can help Sri Lanka rebuild after a 26-year civil war. No Australian foreign minister has visited the country since 2003.

Dozens of boats carrying asylum seekers, many of them from Sri Lanka, have reached Australian waters this year, as opposition politicians accuse Rudd of weakening border controls.

Rudd’s approval rating fell 3 points to 68 percent after a month of political debate dominated by the refugee issue, according to a poll published today in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. Support for his governing Labor Party remained unchanged on 56 percent on a two-party preferred basis, compared with 44 percent for the opposition Liberal-National coalition.

The opposition says there has been an influx of refugees in the past year after Rudd’s government ended a policy of detaining asylum seekers in island camps in third countries while their claims are processed.

All asylum seekers intercepted at sea are now detained on Christmas Island, an Australian territory more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) off the northwestern coast, where they have access to legal assistance and an independent review of decisions. Asylum seekers who make it to mainland Australia are mostly allowed to live among the community while their claims are processed.

The 1,400-bed center is nearing capacity, forcing the government to consider expanding the A$400 million ($369 million) site.

Global Increase

The government says conflicts in countries such as Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have led to a global increase in refugees and denies opposition claims that its policies have made Australia a more attractive destination for people smugglers.

Australians are evenly split over the government’s refugee policy, with 45 percent approving of the job Rudd has done and 47 percent disapproving, according to the poll. Forty-four percent said the policy was too soft, 37 percent that it was about right and 13 percent that it was too harsh, the Herald reported. Pollster Nielsen surveyed 1,400 people Nov. 5-7. No margin of error was given.

Rudd is pressing the government in Jakarta to combat the transit of asylum seekers through Indonesia’s archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. Australia and Indonesian officials plan to draft an agreement to tackle people smuggling before Rudd and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meet in Singapore this week at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Customs Vessel

Australia has until almost the end of this week to persuade 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to leave a customs vessel moored in Indonesian waters.

The ethnic Tamils were picked up from their damaged boat by the Oceanic Viking customs vessel in Indonesia’s search and rescue zone last month. They are refusing to leave the boat and enter the Tanjung Pinang detention center on the island of Bintan, northwest of Jakarta and say they want to be taken to Australia. Security clearance for the customs vessel to remain in Indonesian waters expires Nov. 13.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 20:03 EST