Patchy results for Australia’s people smuggling force in Indonesia
In Indonesia, the hunt is still on for the man who organised the boat which sank at Christmas Island last month, but hopes of a quick arrest have been dashed.
Eighty five members of the Australian federal Police are on the case, both in Indonesia and Australia. But the Indonesians say they’re still waiting on important information from their Australian counterparts. Meanwhile they’ve provided figures to the ABC which show that their Australian funded campaign to stop asylum seekers before they get on the boats often fails.
MATT BROWN: The doomed voyage to Christmas Island cost dozens of lives and the Indonesian police and their Australian colleagues are trying to hunt down the man who arranged it.
Just before Christmas they thought they had him in their sights but the quick arrest proved elusive.
In the meantime the Indonesian officer with overall responsibility for the anti-people smuggling Task Force says its members are chasing down leads from the crewmen who survived the wreck.
(Sound of Agung Sabar Santoso speaking)
Brigadier general Agung Sabar Santoso says, “With one crewman we have a clear address and we’re going to his house. Another has already received payment, his wife received it. So we have this information and we’ll go after them. But,” he cautions, “they are usually given information on a need to know basis.”
The Australian and Indonesian forces are said to cooperate closely. But it’s far from a seamless affair.
While the other survivors on Christmas Island are being interviewed by Australian Federal Police to see what they know about the organiser the Indonesians say they haven’t been given the results of those inquiries.
(Sound of Agung Sabar Santoso speaking)
“We don’t just want the crews interrogated,” Brigadier general Agung says, “but also the passengers.”
Where did you enter Indonesia? Where did you stay? Who gave you shelter? Who took you to the boat? We need to know all of this.”
It’s understood the results so far haven’t been sent through because they only corroborate the early leads already passed on.
The Indonesian police have been invited to Australia to gather information but three weeks after the tragedy they’re yet to make the trip.
Brigadier general Agung says its not easy to fly to Christmas Island so they’re waiting for the crewman to be taken to Perth or Darwin.
The Christmas Island wreck marked a tragic end to a record year in the people smuggling trade, a trade that flourished despite an expanding anti-people smuggling task force.
According to figures provided by the task force last year it detained 2,188 people. The police made a case against just 31 who were actually involved in smuggling. Twenty-six were crew members, leaving just five more important players.
Comparing the number of people the task force detained to the number who made it through gives another very rough guide to its overall impact.
In January last year it detained around a quarter of those bound for Australia.
But after a mid-year surge the strike rate plummeted. In November when more than 730 passengers and crew took the voyage to Australia the task force detained just 52 people in Indonesia.
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201101/s3108292.htm
Category: Society
