Indonesian charged with people smuggling offenses

Antara News, Saturday, February 6, 2010 09:49 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Australian Federal Police (AFP) had charged an Indonesian man with people smuggling offenses after allegedly facilitating the arrival of 50 people to Australia.

The AFP statement that ANTARA obtained here Friday said the 50-year-old man who allegedly violated Section 232A of Australia`s Migration Act 1958 appeared in Perth Magistrates Court.

The man whose name and his province of origin were not publicly published arrived on 14 November 2009 on a vessel that was intercepted by the Royal Australian Navy patrol boat HMAS Broome on the waters of south west of Ashmore Island.

"The maximum penalty for people smuggling offenses is 20 years imprisonment and/or a 220,000 Australian dollar fine," the AFP said.

Since September 2008, the AFP has charged 94 people with people smuggling offenses. Indonesian skippers are among the suspects and verdicts.

The people smuggling issue has brought Indonesia and Australia`s cooperation closer.

Australian Ambassador for People Smuggling Peter Woolcott had even visited Jakarta on Thursday and Friday for strengthening the two countries` cooperation in the war on human trafficking.

Spokesperson of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta Jenny Dee told ANTARA that during his short visit, Ambassador Woolcott met Indonesian foreign ministry and immigration`s officials and those of the UNHCR and International Organization for Migration.

However, Dee downplayed the possibility that Ambassador Woolcott would specifically talk about the Sri Lankan asylum seekers who refuse to disembark from their wooden ship in Merak, Banten Province.

The case of the Sri Lankans stuck in Merak was an Indonesian government affair, she said.

More than 200 Sri Lankan Tamils had failed to reach Australian waters after an Indonesian patrol boat intercepted their wooden ship in the Sunda Strait on Oct 10, 2009.

The matter had drawn the attention of both the government and media in the two countries.

Over the past three years, Australia has been continually bugged by the arrivals of asylum seeker boats in its waters.

As per February 4, 2010, Australian patrol boats had captured at least seven boatloads of asylum seekers.

The latest vessel was captured by HMAS Larrakia, operating under the control of Australia`s Border Protection Command, on February 1. It brought 181 passengers and four crew members.

The Australian government has consistently categorized people smuggling as a global and regional problem.

The UNHCR 2008 Global Trends report said that there were 42 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide at the end of 2008, including 15.2 million refugees.

As in the previous cases, the passengers of the captured boats were transported to the Australian Immigration`s detention center on Christmas Island to undergo security, identity and health checks as well as their reasons for travel established.

The Indonesian Consulate in Perth noted that there were a number of Indonesians among the captains and crew members of the boats bringing asylum seekers to Australia.