Refugee policy general named next Australian defense chief

CANBERRA, Australia –  An Australian army general who led a secretive military operation to stop asylum seekers from coming to Australia by boat has been named the country’s next defense force chief.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Monday that Lt. Gen. Angus Campbell will replace Air Chief Marshall Mark Binskin as chief of the Australian Defense Force in July. Binskin will retire after four years in the top job.

Campbell came to public attention as the commander of Operation Sovereign Borders, an operation a newly elected conservative government established in 2013 to stop thousands of asylum seekers from the Middle East, Africa and Asia from reaching Australian shores in rickety Indonesian fishing boats at a rate of 37 boats a month.

No asylum seeker boat has reached Australia since July 2014.