More Boats Mean More Asylum Seekers in Detention in Australia

In the first two months of 2012, 1165 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia by boat. And all of them have been moved to detention centres.

On 16th February two boats carrying more than 130 asylum seekers were stopped off the coast of Christmas Island. Two days later, Australian authorities intercepted another asylum seeker boat with more than 79 asylum seekers on board. And on 21^st February, two more boats were found in Australian waters. One of the boats was carrying 98 people while the other had 96 passengers. The asylum seekers have been taken to the detention centre on Christmas Island, where they will receive initial security, health and identity checks and their reasons for travel will be established.

Both of the major political parties in Australia want to start offshore processing for asylum seekers who arrive by boat again. But they are still fighting over which country asylum seekers should be sent to. The current Government wants to send asylum seekers to Malaysia. The Liberal Party (in opposition) wants to send asylum seekers to Nauru.

Both sets of politicians are blaming each other for the increase in the numbers of people arriving by boat. The Government’s Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, said the latest boat arrivals were because the Liberal Party was refusing to negotiate. “Enough is enough. Australians expect Mr. Abbott to work with the Government to stop people risking their lives at sea,” Mr. Bowen said. The Liberal Party’s immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, said the  “Labor [party] has lost control of our borders.”

Without offshore processing, the newest asylum seekers to arrive in Australia are being sent to detention centres. A new report by Amnesty International, however, says that conditions in those detention centres are not good for asylum seekers. In fact, they have said the Australian Government should close the remote detention centres like Curtin immediately.

Amnesty spoke with one asylum seeker who has been on detention for more than two years, waiting for the refugee application to be processed. The asylum seeker told Amnesty, “the only way to pass the time and escape the heat is to rely on medication to sleep the days away.”

Amnesty spokesperson Graham Thom said that there was an “air of hopelessness” among the asylum seekers and that their mental health was “obviously being crushed” by spending up to three years waiting. Amnesty says that asylum seekers should be detained only for a maximum of 30 days once they reach Australia.

There are currently 3031 people in immigration detention centres around Australia. Almost a third have been in detention for more than a year.

200 asylum-seekers missing after boat sinks on way to Australia

A wooden fishing boat carrying about 250 asylum seekers from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Turkey, that was believed to be heading for Australia sunk 90km (55 miles) off the coast of Indonesia on Saturday.

The boat turned over, broke apart and sank in bad weather and huge waves of up to 5 metres in height off Indonesia’s main island of Java.

Indonesian officials say that only 33 people (30 men, one woman and two children) have been saved. More than 200 asylum-seekers are still missing and thought to be dead.

Lieutenant Alwi Mudzakir a maritime police official heading the search said bad weather and large waves are challenging the rescue operation "We fear that a large number of victims will not be rescued."

Indonesian police blame the accident on people smugglers because they put too many passengers on a boat that was built to only carry 100 people or less.

Survivors said that they and the other passengers came from Iran and Afghanistan, and had each paid smugglers between $2,500 and $5,000 to get on a boat and seek a new life in Australia.

 "According to them, they had flown from Dubai to Jakarta and took buses to an unidentified location in Java to board the boat. They said they were heading to Christmas Island," Mr Purwanto said.

While most estimate that 250 asylum-seekers were on board, some reports say there were 380 asylum-seekers on the boat.

One survivor from Afghanistan, 24-year-old Esmat Adine, gave rescuers an estimate of how many passengers were on the boat.

"He did not know exactly how many passengers there were, but he said that four buses with around 60 or more adult passenger each had turned up to the port where the boat set off from," a translator for Mr. Adine said.

Mr. Esmat Adine told the Antara news agency that during the bad weather the ship had started rocking violently from side to side, triggering panic among the tightly packed passengers.

"That made the boat even more unstable and eventually it sank,” he said.

Mr. Adine added that he and others clung to parts of the broken boat until local fishermen rescued them. He estimated that more than 40 children were on the boat.

Indonesia has more than 18,000 islands and thousands of miles of unpatrolled coastline, making it a key transit point for smuggling migrants.

Australian Government officials have warned asylum-seekers and refugees against attempting to go to Australia by boat because it is so dangerous. 

Last month, a ship carrying about 70 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan capsized in the same area off the southern coast of Central Java province, and at least eight people died.

Australia’s new Home Affairs Minister Mr. Jason Clare blamed people smugglers for the tragedy.

"They're in the business of making money and they don't care if it kills people or not," he said.

December is one of the most dangerous months to attempt a sea crossing to Australia.

The dangerous monsoon season begins December 1 and this tragedy has come just over a year since the Christmas Island boat crash which killed dozens.

Law enforcement increases as more boats arrive to Australia

The largest boatload of asylum seekers to arrive since 2009, and the sixth in a week, has landed on Christmas Island as officials from the Australian Government are visiting Indonesia to discuss new ways stop people smuggling.

There were 167 asylum seekers and crew on the latest boat, making it the third-largest boat to arrive since 2009. A total of 542 asylum seekers and crew have arrived this week. After a record 901 asylum seekers and crew were intercepted in November, December is expected to be even bigger.

Since the Australian Parliament forced the Government to abandon offshore processing, boats have steadily increased in size and frequency. By the 6th of December, 3920 asylum seekers have arrived.  This is the third-highest total on record and almost one-third of the total has arrived in the past six weeks.

By Monday 5th December, there were 1235 asylum-seekers being held in Christmas Island detention centre which is designed to house 1244. But the latest arrival and a group of asylum seekers who are still in transit will add another 240 people.

A spokesman for the Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen, blamed the rise in arrivals on the Opposition, which has stopped laws being changed which would allow offshore processing and the Malaysia Plan.

The recent boat arrivals came as senior Australian Government officials were in Jakarta discussing “new ways” for Indonesia and Australia to work together to stop people smuggling syndicates and their bosses. They have discussed how to combat people trafficking and smuggling as well as ways to improve the age determination process for people smuggling crew. While there, Australia delivered three 16-metre speedboats to the Indonesian police. But Indonesian police officials said that they needed much bigger boats to fight people smuggling.

Australia has also been contributing to the Indonesian Maritime Security Board, helping the Indonesians to train their staff on maritime security and sea law. In addition, Australia has donated $2 million for a maritime radio communication network.

Speaking in Indonesia, Australian Government officials said they expected more boats carrying asylum seekers to leave from Indonesia in the next few months, despite the dangerous conditions during the monsoon season. “We're on the cusp of the anniversary of the Christmas Island tragedy and that's why the Government wants to work with the governments within the region to combat people-smuggling.”

Another Australian Government official said that there was now an “increased likelihood of people perishing at sea” as asylum seekers boarded boats in the monsoon period. A year ago, 50 asylum seekers died in a boat crash off Christmas Island in bad weather. Because of this, he also said Australia and Indonesia were developing new strategies to arrest people smuggling bosses, including the introduction of new laws in countries around the region.