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Supplying lifeboats to asylum seekers may rile Indonesia, Australia warned
The Guardian (Australia) - January 8, 2014
Dr Sara Davies, a senior research fellow with Griffith University's Griffith Asia Institute, said the reported proposal would have "massive implications" in the region and raised questions about Australia's obligations to asylum seekers who found themselves in distress after being "aided and abetted" to turn around.
The warning followed reports on Tuesday that the Australian navy had recently turned one or more asylum seeker boats back.
On Wednesday the ABC reported the accounts of two separate asylum seekers, each of whom said they were aboard a vessel towed back to Indonesia by the Australian navy.
The first, a Sudanese man named Yusuf said he and his wife were on a vessel that reached an island off Darwin on New Year's Day and the second, a Somali man called Marke, said he was on the first boat reportedly towed back to Indonesian waters on 10 December.
Each said they were told they were being taken to Christmas Island, but were actually left close to the Indonesian coastline several days later. They are now in an immigration centre at Kupang.
Marke said the navy had treated him and other asylum seekers roughly and Yusuf said some on his boat were handcuffed or restrained, and others had jumped into the water.
Earlier Labor and the Greens had intensified their criticism of the Abbott government for cloaking its asylum seeker operations in secrecy, with the opposition frontbencher Anthony Albanese saying North Korea-style secrecy was unacceptable.
The government is buying 16 large hard-hulled lifeboats, similar to those found on oil tankers and cruise ships, to be used to send asylum seekers back towards Indonesia if their own vessel is unseaworthy, according to Fairfax Media reports published on Wednesday.
The plan appears to be a response to long-running concerns about the risk posed by the sabotage of unsafe fishing boats. The Coalition – which campaigned on a promise to turn boats back to Indonesia where safe to do so – was repeatedly warned this would be dangerous because crew members would scuttle their vessels.
Asylum seekers intercepted by Australian authorities could be transferred to a high-visibility lifeboat, close to Indonesian waters, if their own vessel was deemed unsafe, Fairfax reported, citing multiple Defence Department sources. The engine-powered lifeboats have roofs and capacity for dozens of passengers and would contain a week's worth of supplies.
The immigration minister, Scott Morrison, has not disputed the claims, saying only that the government's policy was to offer no comment on operational matters.
Neil James, of the Australian Defence Association, said the purchase of lifeboats was a clever idea and would send a message to Indonesian authorities to stop turning a blind eye to the regular departure from the country of unseaworthy vessels.
"If they [asylum seekers] are put in the vessels in international waters and directed back towards Indonesian waters, Indonesian sovereignty isn't being violated," he said.
But Davies said the reported plan raised numerous questions and Australia would appear to be assuming some responsibility for the people it was assisting to return towards Indonesia. She said it was possible people in the lifeboats who may not have maritime skills could get into distress again.
"If we've provided people with a vessel that's Australian-flagged if it comes into distress we have a level of responsibility and culpability."
Davies drew parallels with Italy's actions in returning asylum seekers to Libya, but noted that that practice occurred as a result of an agreement between the two countries.
Due to the absence of detail about the Australian plan she was not able to comment extensively on the legal aspects, but said it would be difficult on a political and diplomatic level.
"I don't know if it's necessarily illegal under international maritime law but it's a continued breach of our obligations under the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees."
Davies said the reported proposal posed risks for the Australia-Indonesia relationship, "especially if Indonesia hasn't been consulted regarding this purchase" and the planned use.
"Even if Indonesia has been consulted I cannot envisage Indonesia being comfortable unless there is a bigger deal that we're not privy to," she said. The reported turnbacks would be in in line with a key plank of Abbott's "stop the boats" election policy.
The Indonesian foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, refused to comment on the specific incidents when asked about them on Tuesday. "But as a policy, I shall repeat this once again: Indonesia rejects and is against the policy of boat turnbacks because it's not a solution," he told reporters in Jakarta, speaking in Indonesian.
Morrison said the government would "continue to take all steps necessary to stop the boats consistent with our commitments to the Australian people and to protect safety of life at sea". He said the government would work with its partners in the region "wherever possible" to achieve this.
But Morrison has refused to confirm or deny the reports of the lifeboat purchase, saying people smugglers had previously used official commentary on such matters "to make dangerous assumptions about our maritime operations".
"The government's policy of no public comment on operational matters is based on the advice of border protection agency and operational leaders to protect the security of our operations and to ensure that they can be conducted with maximum safety and effectiveness for all involved," he said.
Albanese said the government must be more open about its asylum-seeker operations because a democratic country required its political leaders to be transparent and accountable.
"This is not North Korea; this is not a Stalinist regime. The government needs to get its act together and tell the Australian people what's going on because it's being done, after all, in the Australian people's name," he said.
The Greens' spokeswoman on immigration, Sarah Hanson-Young, said the government was determined to push asylum seekers out of sight and was more interested in a secretive media strategy than the plight of refugees.
Hanson-Young branded the lifeboat plan as an illegal, ludicrous and dangerous idea that would further strain Australia's relationship with Indonesia.
"You've got to wonder: is Tony Abbott just prepared to call the Indonesians' bluff? If that's the case, I don't think he's playing with the full deck," she said.
Labor's acting immigration spokesman, Mark Dreyfus, said the government's political "cover-up" left Australians in the dark about what the navy was asked to do in their name. Dreyfus told the ABC the prime minister and immigration minister were avoiding an explanation "because that would make clear just how disastrous the impact this has had on our relationship with Indonesia".
Morrison's statement said arrivals by boat had declined by more than 80% since the Coalition began its militaristic Operation Sovereign Borders.
Labor has argued the decisive factor in driving the reduction was the regional resettlement deal Kevin Rudd struck with Papua New Guinea in July as part of a hardline policy to ensure no asylum seekers who arrived by boat would settle in Australia. Morrison said the Coalition government had shown resolve to deter boat arrivals and genuinely implement offshore processing.
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