Australia has been accused of having paid people smugglers to keep their boats off the country’s shores within its efforts to curb inflow of asylum-seekers.
A boat captain and two crew members apprehended by the Indonesian police under suspicion of people trafficking told the authorities that they were each paid by Australian navy USD 3,860 to turn their vessel with 65 migrants on board back, Reuters reports.
The boat was intercepted by the Indonesian navy after turning back on May 31, the UNHCR said.
“Should this situation be confirmed and it turns out to be true, it would be a new low for the way the government of Australia handles the situation on irregular migration,” Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir is cited by Reuters as saying while commenting on the case.
The claims were denied last week by Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, however in the latest turn of events Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott avoided a direct comment.
On Sunday, Abbot refused to deny the allegations, saying that “ there’s really only one thing to say here, and that is that we’ve stopped the boats. That’s good for Australia, it’s good for Indonesia and it’s particularly good for all those who want to see a better world,” the Guardian cited Abbot as saying in Canberra.
In an interview with RADIO 3AW, asked to comment on whether the smugglers were paid or not, Abbot said : “We will do whatever is reasonably necessary to protect our country from people smuggling and from the effects of this evil and damaging trade that costs lives.”
“What we do is we stop the boats by hook or by crook because that’s what we’ve got to do and that’s what we’ve successfully done and I just don’t want to go into the details of how it’s done because like a lot of things that law enforcement agencies have to do, it’s necessary, it’s difficult and at times I suppose it’s dangerous work, but we deal with it and we’ve stopped the boats.”
Jakarta and the United Nations expressed heightened concern calling for a prompt investigation into the case.
World Maritime News Staff; Image: UNHCR