Australia paid smugglers to turn back, Amnesty says
Group claims investigation provides ‘detailed evidence’ of authorities’ conduct
Australian officials have breached international laws by paying off human smugglers to turn back boatloads of refugees to Indonesia, alleges Amnesty International.
An investigative report released by the human rights group on Wednesday also accused Australian border officials of illegally detaining and mistreating the asylum seekers.
“The evidence collected by Amnesty International about the events of May 2015 indicates . . . Australian officials appear to have organized or directed the crew to commit a people-smuggling offence,” said the re- port, titled “By Hook or by Crook.”
“It was under Australian officials’ instruction and with their material assistance (including two boats, fuel, maps, and GPS) that the offence of smuggling people into Indonesia took place.”
The Australian government did not respond to Amnesty International’s request for comments on the report’s findings, but told BBC Australia that passengers on the vessels are “held legally in secure, safe, humane and appropriate conditions” by the Australian Border Force and Australian Defence Force. “To suggest otherwise, as Amnesty has done, is to cast a slur on the men and women of the ABF and ADF,” said the statement.
The Amnesty probe was launched after media reports of two incidents in May and July, in which border officials were accused of paying crews to turn back boatloads of would-be asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The report includes photos, videos and interviews with the asylum- seekers, boat crew and Indonesian police.
“Australia has, for months, denied it paid for people smuggling, but our report provides detailed evidence pointing to a very different set of events,” said Amnesty International researcher Anna Shea. “All of the available evidence points to Australian officials having committed a transnational crime by, in effect, directing a people-smuggling operation, paying a boat crew and then instructing them on exactly what to do and where to land in Indonesia.”
The six crew members on the intercepted boat in May claimed they were paid $32,000 (U.S.) to redirect their route. Indonesian police also showed Shea the money confiscated from the crew — in crisp U.S. $100 bills.
The report further accused Australian authorities of endangering the refugees’ lives by instructing a “midsea transfer” of the passengers from one of the two boats that ran out of fuel while at sea.