According to Indonesian police, the captain of a human-smuggling boat said Australian border personnel paid him and his crew thousands of dollars to turn their vessel around and return to Indonesia.
An Australian navy vessel had intercepted the smugglers’ boat off Java on May 20 while it was carrying 65 passengers, largely from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They were reported to be attempting to reach New Zealand.
Police in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province said the captain and his crew of five were each paid about $3,800 ($5,000 Australian dollars) to turn the ship back. The boat later crashed into a remote island reef. An Indonesian government spokesman said Indonesia would investigate the allegations.
- Both Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton denied the reports. But Prime Minister Tony Abbott, speaking on Australian commercial radio Friday, refused to address the claims of payments to the captain and crew.
Australia’s policy has been to prevent boats from reaching Australia’s shores and to discourage potential migrants from attempting the journey. Authorities are sending would-be asylum-seekers to camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru for long-term detention.
The hard-line policy has led to criticism from the political opposition and rights groups, but the allegation of payments to smugglers has led to charges of Australia being in breach of International law.............http://www.voanews.com/content/alleged-payments-to-smugglers-rile-australian-opposition/2820347.html
13/6/15
--
-
Related:
----
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Indonesien verurteilt Australiens "unmoralische" Abschiebepolitik...
ReplyDeleteIndonesiens Regierung hat verärgert auf australische Maßnahmen gegen Flüchtlinge reagiert. Premier Abbott streitet nämlich nicht ab, dass Geld an Schlepper gezahlt wurde.
Indonesien verlangt von Australien eine Erklärung zu Berichten, wonach Grenzbeamte Schlepper bezahlt haben sollen, sodass sie mit ihrem Boot mit 65 Flüchtlingen nach Indonesien zurückkehrten. Außenministerin Retno Marsudi sagte, Indonesien wäre sehr beunruhigt, sollten sich die Berichte bestätigten.
Australiens Premierminister Tony Abbott hatte es abgelehnt, den Vorwurf der Bezahlung von Schleppern zu dementieren. "Die australische Regierung wird tun, was immer notwendig ist, um diesen bösen Handel zu stoppen", sagte Abbott, "dafür haben uns die Australier gewählt." Er lobte die australischen Grenzbeamten als "unglaublich kreativ".............http://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2015-06/indonesien-australien-bestechung-schlepper-fluechtlinge-abschiebung
13/6/15