WE’RE NOT FOR SAIL
PEOPLE SMUGGLERS WARNED AMID ‘CHATTER’
THE man tasked with turning back the boats has released an extraordinary video in multiple languages warning Australia’s borders remained closed to people smugglers.
In a 32-second clip released on Youtube yesterday, Royal Australian Navy Rear Admiral Justin Jones, commander of Maritime and Border Command and Operation Sovereign Borders, said the nation’s policies on border protection had not changed.
He said the country remained resolute on the point.
“No one who attempts to travel illegally by boat will settle here, no matter who you are or where you are from our borders are closed to illegal migration,” Rear Admiral Jones says in the video delivered in multiple languages, including Bengali, Sudanese Arabic, Indonesian, Farsi and Kurdish.
“The only way to Australia is on a valid visa.
“You have zero chance of illegal migration,” he says. It is understood the video was prompted by intelligence including online chatter in recent weeks pointing to a renewal of interest by offshore people smugglers – notably in Southeast Asia – and most of it sparked by confusion and debate on whether a change in government could lead to a softening stance on the tough migration policy.
The clip is likely to be seen widely, with Operation Sovereign Borders’ social media sites active in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. The warning came as Opposition immigration spokeswoman Kristina Keneally was forced yesterday to deny she told a group of refugee activists that she would “welcome an approach … to end offshore processing” if Labor win on May 21.
Labor for Refugees members were sent an update in March 2021, after the ALP held a virtual national conference, noting “Kristina stated that until Labor forms government, nothing will change”. The update went on to say Ms Keneally indicated that “after Labor wins the election and Labor’s refugee policies have resulted in positive outcomes, Kristina would welcome an approach by L4R to end the offshore processing regime”.
But Ms Keneally said she had not seen the information referred to in the story and denied she had ever said words to that effect.
When asked about the video yesterday, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said people smugglers knew that under Labor more than 50,000 people travelled illegally to Australia.
“Labor’s constant flip-flopping and backflipping on border protection present the perfect advertising opportunity for people smugglers to market a weakening of Australia’s borders,” she said.