INDONESIA-AUSTRALIA/MIGRANTS Australia stoops to 'new low' if boat payment confirmed - Indonesia

Record ID: 151068

  • Title: INDONESIA-AUSTRALIA/MIGRANTS Australia stoops to 'new low' if boat payment confirmed - Indonesia
  • Date: 13th June 2015
  • Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (JUNE 13, 2015) (REUTERS) INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RETNO MARSUDI TALKING TO PEOPLE AT THE SIDELINE OF A CONFERENCE INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN ARMANATHA NASIR WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, ARMANATHA NASIR SAYING: "From the investigation it was revealed that the captain and five of the crew received 5,00
  • Embargoed: 28th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABT1EZLORBPYJIYL49P9ISREYR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Australia would have stooped to a "new low" if reports that its navy paid people-smugglers bound for Australia thousands of dollars to turn back their boat are true, an Indonesian government official said on Saturday (June 13).
    Indonesia arrested a boat captain and crew members on suspicion of human trafficking this week, who told Indonesian police Australian authorities had paid each of them A$5,000 ($3,860) to turn back their vessel with 65 migrants on board.
    "From the investigation it was revealed that the captain and five of the crew received 5,000 (Australian) dollars each from Australian authorities at sea. It was revealed that they were told to be turned back to Indonesia with the people on board, in return with the 5,000 dollar each they receive. And at the moment this is still part of an ongoing investigation, they're being investigated for people smuggling," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.
    The passengers, including children and a pregnant woman, were from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
    Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton have both denied reports of payment to the smugglers but Prime Minister Tony Abbott has declined to comment, citing operational security.
    Nasir said it would be the first time such an incident occurred involving Australian authorities. Indonesia plans to ask Australia for clarification, he said.
    "This is the first time that we know such a incident happen. Of course on the Australia's push-back policy we have been consistently saying they are on a slippery slope. And should this situation is confirmed and turns out to be true, it would be a new low for the way that the government of Australia is handling the situation on irregular movement of migrants," said Nasir.
    Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi also raised the issue with Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Grigson, on the sidelines of a foreign policy conference in Jakarta.
    Grigson promised to send her concerns to Canberra and get back to her, she said.
    "I just met the (Australian) ambassador just now in the room, so I make used of the opportunity to talk to him directly. Because we're very concerned if it is confirmed," said Marsudi.
    Australia has vowed to stop asylum-seekers reaching its shores, turning boats back to Indonesia when it can and sending asylum-seekers to camps in impoverished Papua New Guinea and Nauru for long-term detention.
    The United Nations and human rights groups have criticized Australia over its tough asylum-seeker policy, which Abbott defends as necessary to stop deaths at sea.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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