Australia
paid people smugglers to turn back refugee boats – report
28 October, 2015
Australia's
maritime border control allegedly paid people smugglers to turn back
refugee boats headed for New Zealand. The claims made by Amnesty
International also accuse Canberra of essentially colluding with a
people-smuggling operation.
The
human rights organization alleges that the incident took place in May
2015. They say that Australian officials, who were working as part of
the Operation Sovereign Borders program, paid six crew members a
total of US $32,000 to make sure they did not continue on to New
Zealand, which had been their intended target.
Instead,
Amnesty International believes that the crew returned to Indonesia,
with 65 people who had been seeking asylum in New Zealand. The
Australians also provided detailed maps and told the crew where they
should land in Indonesia.
Anna
Shea, a Refugee Researcher at Amnesty International she was shocked
at the findings, which were published in a report called ‘By hook
or by crook.’ She added that people-smuggling was normally a crime
associated with private individuals and “not
governments,” and
mentioned
“Australia
has, for months, denied that it paid for people smuggling, but our
report provides detailed evidence pointing to a very different set of
events,” Shea
said.
“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,” she dded.
The
Australian government has denied the claims, saying the border
patrols were merely responding to a boat that had run into trouble at
sea.
However,
this claim has been refuted by both the boat’s crew members and by
the passengers, who all spoke to Amnesty International. They say that
the vessel never made a distress call and was never in trouble.
Amnesty
International also uncovered video evidence, which shows money being
confiscated from the six crew members in “crisp
US $100 bills.”
Australia’s
maritime border control is also alleged to have been involved in a
second incident in July. In this case, the Australian officials are
believed to have directed the boat crew to take its passengers back
to Indonesia. The asylum seekers say they were taken off their boat
and but them onto a new one.
The
rights group is calling for further investigations to take place,
while also urging Canberra to take the problem of refugees seriously.
"All
people seeking asylum deserve to have their claims fairly dealt with.
And instead of continuing with turnbacks Australia must engage in
effective dialogue to improve regional protections for vulnerable
populations in the Asia-Pacific region, and expand safe and legal
routes for people to reach safety,” Shea
mentioned.
This
is the latest scandal to engulf Australia regarding its treatment of
migrants.
In
August, doctor David Isaacs told RT he risked going to prison for
lifting the lid on how Australia was treating illegal immigrants at a
camp on the Pacific Island of Nauru.
He
was shocked at how the children were being treated and felt that he
had no option but to let the public know about Australia’s dirty
little secret.
“I
saw a child as young as six who tried to hang herself,” he
said, adding that he saw a number of children who had developed
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“The
parents are very troubled,” Isaacs
said. “When
the parents are troubled, the children also become troubled, so
either they become depressed, or they become angry.”
Meanwhile
a few days later, a former guard at the same refugee camp alleged
that he had openly heard fellow workers“brag” about
waterboarding inmates.
In
March, the then Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott rejected a UN
report saying the country has been violating children asylum seekers’
rights in offshore processing center.
The
report accused Australia of detaining children, saying this breaches
Australia's international obligations under the Convention Against
Torture, which is designed to prevent inhumane and degrading
treatment.
Meanwhile a huge story in New Zealand involving human rights has been the approximately 200 New Zealanders being held in detention on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean prior to being deported back to New Zealand (even if they've been resident in Australia for 30 years)
The first response of the NZ government was to attack the messenger, NZ FIrst MP Kelvin Davis
New
Zealanders held on Christmas Island so angry they may riot – Labour
MP
New
Zealand MP Kelvin Davis had a ‘highly emotional’ visit with
detainees on Friday, gaining access to the centre after a week
waiting on the island
24 October, 2015
New
Zealand detainees on Christmas
Island are
so angry, hungry and traumatised they are allegedly considering
rioting.
Labour
MP Kelvin Davis had a five-hour “highly emotional” visit with
detainees on Friday, gaining access to the centre after a week
waiting on the island.
About
40 detainees are being held while they wait to be sent back to New
Zealandunder
Australia’s immigration policy that came into effect in December.
Anyone
who is not an Australian citizen and who has served a prison sentence
of 12 months or more can be deported, potentially affecting about
1,000 New Zealanders.
Davis
said the detainees are so desperate to return to their Australian
homes, they are considering rioting.
“These
New Zealand born Australians are not murderers or rapists. They have
served their time yet Australian authorities are treating them as
though they are a terrorism threat.”
None
of the eight detainees Davis met wanted to return to New Zealand to
settle their visa applications, as the Australian government has
proposed.
“They
think its a trick designed to prevent them from returning to their
families and jobs in Australia,” he said.
On
arrival at the centre, Davis said he was drug tested and escorted
into an airless room where detainees were brought in two at a time
for 30 minutes.
He
said he took in birthday chocolates for detainee Ricardo Young but
the authorities could not decide if he should be allowed them.
And in the last 24 hours Tony 'Dumb Dumb' Abbott, ex-PM of Australia, has been carrying his anti-immigration message across the globe
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