Australian Minister Rebuffs Claims People Smugglers Paid to Return Boat to Indonesian Waters

Jakarta Globe, Erin Cook, Jun 10, 2015

Indonesian officials check a lifeboat stranded on Karang Jambe beach, in
Kebumen, Central Java, on Feb. 25, 2014. (EPA Photo/Himawan Nugraha)

Jakarta. Australia’s Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton has denied claims that officials had paid the crew of a boat turned back from Australian waters to Indonesia, which ran aground on a reef near Rote island, East Nusa Tenggara province.

The boat, carrying 65 people from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, was intercepted by the Australian Navy in May while heading to New Zealand.

Police have charged the crew with people smuggling offenses and it was during questioning that the allegations of payment were made.

Rote Police Chief Hidayat said the boat’s captain, Yohanes, said the six crew members had been paid $5,000 cash each by an Australian official named Agus.

“I saw the money, the $5,000 was in $100 bank notes,” Hidayat said.

Dutton was asked on Tuesday if the payment had taken place, to which he said only “no,” before referring to the government policy of not speaking publicly about “on-water matters.”

A statement released by the Immigration Department said: “The Australian government does not comment on or disclose operational details where this would prejudice the outcome of current or future operations.”

The “turn back the boats” policy has been a source of tension to Australian and Indonesia’s relations, with an estimated 15 boats towed back to Indonesian waters since it was enacted at the end of 2013.

A joint letter by the passengers to the New Zealand government pleading for asylum also alleges the payments were made.

Speaking to Fairfax Media, Don Rothwell, a professor in international law at the Australian National University, said payments could itself be seen as a form of people smuggling, though the move would be a first.

“If Australian officials were to pay crews to take those people to Indonesia, I suspect that Indonesia and some other regional neighbors would take a dim view of that conduct from Australia,” he told Fairfax.

Rothwell said payments would not violate Australia’s Migration Act.

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