Australian Government Still Wants to Pursue Malaysia Plan

The Australian Labor Party has voted to pursue a regional plan for the offshore processing of asylum seekers at its national conference.

There are two main political parties in Australia, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party of Australia. Most people elected to Parliament are members of these parties. The current government is a Labor Party government and is led by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

Members of the Labor Party met on the 3rd December to decide what policies they would have while in government. The Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, proposed that the Malaysia Plan should become a policy of the Labor Party. At the same time, he also proposed that the intake of UNHCR-registered refugees should be increased, from 13,750 to 20,000 a year. Both proposals were approved and are now Labor Party policies.

While they are Labor Party policies, they have not been voted on in Parliament so are not yet laws. Mr Bowen said “it's my view that we will be pursuing it through the parliament again, (but) we will need to see Mr. Abbott change his position if it is to pass the parliament.” Mr. Abbot is leader of the Liberal Party that wants offshore processing in Nauru, not Malaysia. The immigration spokesman for the Liberal Party said the government's asylum seeker policy had failed.

Several Labor party members criticized the proposals and the Malaysia Plan saying that the Plan violates Australia's international obligations as a signatory of the UN Refugee Convention. Refugee groups also attacked the proposals. The Refugee Action Coalition said “any plan to expel asylum seekers to Malaysia, or any other third country, is a fundamental (failure of) Australia's obligation to provide protection for who arrive on our shores fleeing persecution.” But Mr Bowen said Australia needs "to tackle this with a soft heart and a hard head."

The Government first proposed the Malaysia Plan in May this year in an attempt to deter people-smugglers. Under the Plan, 800 asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat would be sent to Malaysia to have their refugee applications processed but they would not be allowed to come to Australia, even if their applications were successful. In return for taking the 400 asylum seekers, Australia would accept 4,000 registered refugees from Malaysia. The plan collapsed in August after Australia's High Court said offshore processing was illegal under current Australian law.

The Government believes that processing asylum seekers in Malaysia will break the people smugglers business model and prevent even more asylum seekers from drowning at sea. At the conference, Mr. Bowen said refugees were risking their lives on boat journeys between Australia and Indonesia. Almost 50 asylum seekers drowned when their boat sank off the coast of Christmas Island a year ago. "There have inevitably been others that we simply don't know about," he said.

On the 2nd December the 59th and 60th boats this year carrying asylum seekers arrived in Australia. This brings the total number of asylum seekers arriving by boat this year to 3,802. There are approximately 500 more asylum seekers waiting for boats in Indonesia.  If they arrive this year, the annual total is set to exceed 4,000 for the third time since 1999.  This is less than the almost 7,000 who arrived by boat in 2010.

Rejected Asylum-seekers Riot in Australia

A new report looking at detention conditions in Australia has found that the growing number of asylum-seekers in detention centres who have had their refugee applications rejected was one of the factors which led to riots in the Christmas Island and Villawood detention centres earlier this year.

Buildings were destroyed by fire and detainees were arrested during violent protests and riots on Christmas Island and at Villawood in March and April. The riots caused $8.5 million worth of damage.

The report found that while the length of time taken to process refugee applications was one reason in the decision of asylum-seekers to riot, they were also influenced by the rejection of their applications and their frustration at the people smugglers who promised them visas.

The report says “a strong motivation from detainees who have received negative decisions flows from their reaction to having paid a significant sum of money to people smugglers to facilitate their travel to Australia with an accompanying 'promise' of receiving a visa.”

The report concludes that rejected asylum-seekers believe the decisions about their applications are wrong and that this is leading to disobedience, inappropriate behaviors, disturbances and self-harm. According to the report, 80 of the 100 detainees who took part in the Christmas Island riot had their refugee claims rejected. 19 of these asylum-seekers had been rejected at their first interview. Of the nine detainees charged over the Villawood riot, all had had their refugee applications rejected.

The report also found that overcrowding and the long time asylum-seekers were now spending in detention were becoming part of the problem. The number of asylum-seekers in detention increased dramatically in 2010. In less than 18 months the number of people in detention centres grew from a few hundred to more than 6000. The report concluded that this was placing detention centres under "severe stress" and that they were now operating on an emergency footing.

Australia’s immigration minister, Chris Bowen has said that since then there has been a reduction in the number of people locked up in detention. However now the number of asylum-seekers going to Australia has increased, overcrowding could become a problem again.

In a private letter to the Department of Immigration, the company responsible for health services in detention centres says that the long detention of asylum-seekers has created a high demand for psychiatric services which its staff cannot meet. The letter describes an “increasing surge” of asylum-seekers needing mental health services, particularly in remote locations. The letter discusses the rising number of detainees being prescribed medication for long periods of time; the increasing number of asylum-seekers with a history of trauma and torture; and the growing number of asylum-seekers who have been in detention for more that 18 months.

Mental health professionals throughout Australia argue that the overwhelming majority of asylum-seekers have fled war-torn countries or have seen and experienced trauma and horror on their way to Australia. They argue that many are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder and that this is made worse by their detention in isolated and remote locations and the stress of the long time it is taking for their refugee applications to be processed. According to these professional most asylum-seekers in detention have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress due to their long periods of detention.

Asylum Seeker Boat Almost Crashes Near Christmas Island

The Christmas Island boat tragedy was almost repeated when another asylum seeker boat came very close to crashing into rocks off the coast of Christmas Island just over a week ago.

The boat, carrying 79 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Sudan and Pakistan, was rescued by local volunteers and naval personnel in stormy weather on the evening of November 20. Officials only detected the boat after one of the passengers made an emergency telephone call to a relative living in Australia. Those on board were taken to Christmas Island for health, security and identity checks.

According to the asylum seekers on board, the boat’s captain jumped overboard before the Australian Navy arrived. Under new laws in Australia crew on asylum seeker boats who are arrested will serve mandatory time in jail. Officials believe this is the first time a captain has tried to avoid being arrested.

The captain is still missing and feared dead after search-and-rescue efforts by Australian officials failed to find him.

The Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul says the Government's people smuggling laws should be abandoned. “The people who are in control of the boats are becoming so fearful of consequences of carrying asylum seekers that they would jump overboard not only endangering themselves but potentially endangering other people," he said.

The near-sinking occurred almost a year after last December’s tragedy in which a boat carrying asylum seekers smashed into Christmas Island’s rocky shore in similar conditions. The 2010 disaster cost the lives of 50 asylum seekers. The latest boat rescue also comes less than a month after 20 asylum seekers and crew drowned when their boat sank before it could even leave Indonesian waters. These incidents highlight the dangers facing asylum seekers trying to reach Australia by boat.

People Smugglers and Australia

A large number of asylum-seekers are trying to get to Australia using people smugglers.

People smugglers are individuals or groups who help people to get to another country. Often, this involves crossing country borders illegally or arriving in countries without the proper papers. People smuggling businesses have chains of smuggling agents who recruit people for the journey in countries like Afghanistan. Once people have paid for the journey they are then sent through trusted intermediaries in places like Dubai, Malaysia and Indonesia.

In the case of Australia, people smugglers are taking asylum-seekers to Australia by boat or helping them to go by plane. In the first half of this year 1,709 people sought asylum in Australia and about half of them arrived by boats organized by people smugglers.

Many of the asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia by boat travel through Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the closest countries to Australia and because Indonesian fisherman often fish near Australian waters people smugglers make use of fishing boats to take asylum-seekers. It is also very difficult to police the long Indonesian coastline and prevent fishermen from becoming crew on boats heading to Australia.  The fishermen are usually very poor.

Australia’s anti-smuggling laws do not distinguish between the organizers of people smugglers and fishermen; all are given at least five-year jail sentences if found guilty. But the fishermen are usually paid very small amounts of money, sometimes as low as 60 Australian dollars and may not even know that they will be breaking Australian law.

Mr. Bamba Maja is a fisherman from Indonesia.  He was one of four crew members on a 15-metre wooden fishing boat stopped by Australian patrol boats off Western Australia in March 2010. He said that he took the job to earn money to help his impoverished family. Mr. Maja was paid just $500 but the asylum-seekers on the boat had paid the people smuggler between $4,000 and $6,000 to make the dangerous journey. Mr. Maja was found guilty in an Australian court and sentenced to five years' jail. The people smuggler who organized the journey has not been tried.

International research shows that people smuggling businesses often develop in local and refugee communities and that people smugglers are motivated by both money and a desire to help people. Several UNHCR-registered refugees have spent time in Australian jails for people smuggling.

Mr. Shadi is an Iraqi born man who tried to get to Australia by taking a boat to Christmas Island. When this didn’t work, he became a people smuggler and for three years helped send asylum-seekers to Australia.

Mr. Shadi was the moneyman and recruiter. He says, “You don't need to sell this, or say things like government will pay you money if you go, no one says that. It's just that everybody knows Australia is much better than their own country. That is it. We know by TV, newspaper, internet, you know what the life is like here, Western life. We give you promise to get there and we will try again and again and again until we get you there. We give you promise to leave in two weeks and if it's longer than two weeks we will pay for your hotel, accommodation, whatever.” When Mr. Shadi was working as a people smuggler a boat usually cost $US20,000. The Indonesian fishermen crew and corrupt airport officials would cost another $US20,000 but each passenger would pay between $US2,000 to $US10,000.

Eventually Mr. Shadi became an undercover agent for the Australian Federal Police. Working with the police he testified against some of the biggest people-smugglers and explained the detailed routes people smugglers used to get people to Australia.

Research suggests that the laws that try to stop asylum-seekers crossing borders actually work to push asylum-seekers towards people smugglers. And because people smuggling is a regional problem it cannot be resolved by one country alone. Widespread co-operation is needed between the countries that are source countries, the countries that are transited through, and the destination countries.

First Forced Deportation of Afghan Asylum-seeker from Australia Delayed

The Australian Government's decision to force the deportation of a failed Afghan asylum-seeker for the first time has been temporarily stopped by Australian courts.

Ismail Mirza Jan, 26 years old, fled Afghanistan as a teenager in 2001, three years after his father was killed by the Taliban. He reportedly travelled to Pakistan, Iran and Greece before applying for asylum in Britain. His application was rejected in Britain and then in Ireland, but he was able to live temporarily in Ireland on humanitarian grounds. He arrived in Australia in February 2010 using a false Turkish passport.

He is currently in maximum security at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney after his refugee application was rejected. His application was also rejected by the Refugee Review Tribunal and Australian courts.

Mr Mirza will be charged $2,000 to be flown to Afghanistan and another $30,000 for Australian officials who will need to accompany him.

The Australian Government ordered his removal to Kabul on 15 November 2011. This would have been the first time an Afghan asylum-seeker has been sent home against their wishes because of a deal to return Afghans between Australia, Afghanistan and the UN Refugee Agency. The agreement between them was signed in January 2011. Australia says the agreement allows Australia to force the deportation of Afghans who do not qualify for refugee status and protection.

On Wednesday 16 November lawyers for Mr Mirza applied to the Australian Federal Court to stop his deportation, planned for Saturday 19 November. His lawyer argued that deporting Mr Mirza would go against the Migration Act. His lawyer also says that his client was denied justice because the Government never informed him of the reasons for rejecting his refugee application.

The Court issued a temporary order to stop his forced removal to Kabul until his case can be heard. A refugee activist said the case would probably not be heard until next year.

It is believed that travel documents issued by the Afghan government will expire at the end of January. Documents shown at Court showed that the Afghan government has already approved the deportation.

There are currently 1,246 Afghans in detention in Australia. If this deportation goes ahead, it is likely that more Afghans will be forced to return to Afghanistan if found not to be genuine refugees.