Jakata Globe, February 07, 2010
Government officials have acknowledged that Indonesian citizens are continuing to play a role in smuggling people to Australia.
On Sunday, Teguh Wardoyo, a director at a Foreign Affairs Ministry unit tasked with protecting the nation’s citizens overseas, admitted that many Indonesians were still involved in people smuggling, in particular to the country’s southern neighbor.
The admission follows the charging by an Australian court on Friday of an Indonesian for allegedly smuggling people into the country.
According to a statement released by the Australian Federal Police, the man faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and/or a fine of 220,000 Australian dollars ($109,036).
“The AFP charged the man with one count of facilitating the bringing of non-citizens into Australia” of five or more people, the statement said.
Teguh said that the ministry had been assisting the man in the Western Australian city of Perth, but said they could not interfere with the ongoing legal process the man was facing.
“We have to respect the legal process in Australia,” he said.
The man was detained on Nov. 14 last year when the vessel he was on was blocked by a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat operating under the control of the Customs and Border Protection Command, southwest of Ashmore Reef.
Over the past three years, Australian patrol boats have stopped at least seven boats filled with asylum seekers. The latest was carrying 181 passengers and four crew members.
As in previous cases, the passengers of the captured boats were transported to Australian Immigration’s detention center on Christmas Island where they underwent security, identity and health checks, as well as interviews to establish their reasons for wanting to enter Australia.
The Indonesian Consulate in Perth said the boats bringing asylum seekers to Australia were often captained and manned by Indonesians.
According to its Web site, AFP has charged 94 people, including a number of Indonesians, for human trafficking offenses since September 2008.
An Australian Embassy spokeswoman said Australian Ambassador for People Smuggling Peter Woolcott had visited Jakarta last week in an effort to increase cooperation between the two countries in tackling the problems of human trafficking.
The spokeswoman said that during the visit, Woolcott met with the Foreign Affairs Ministry and immigration officials, as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the International Organization for Migration.
JG, Antara
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