Op-Ed: Intercepting the human smugglers

Indonesian immigration has detained this large boatload, as others are spotted heading to Australia through the archipelago. Another 700 people have arrived in Australian waters in the last few months, and more have been spotted on their way. This is now a full blown regional issue. Indonesia is the unwilling host of boat people in transit, and the two countries have been trying to find ways of shutting down the movements. Boat people heading to Australia were big news earlier in the decade. A “no go” zone was established, and patrolled by the Australian navy and air force. After the general public fury regarding detention centre fiascos, the boat people denied entry were shipped offshore to island detention. People smugglers are the main source of the problem. These great humanitarians are arguably the lowest scum in Asia, which is saying a lot. They’re about as charitable as any organized crime group. Everything is expensive and nasty. In some cases they get $10-20,000 per head to ship people to Australia. The current score of 700 people therefore represents a significant revenue source, and a thriving business. The people smugglers are also opportunists. At least some of the recently arrived refugees are suspected Tamil Tigers, fleeing from their final meltdown. The Tamils would have had some trouble going through normal immigration channels, so the people smugglers stepped in, took their money, and got them detained. If anything, illegal entry undermines a claim for refugee status, too, so the whole exercise has done the Tamils no favors from start to finish. Some boat people have been Afghanis, and people claiming to come from Afghanistan, who are usually from Pakistan. These people are basically milked by the people smugglers, pay in advance, and take their chances. Refunds are not given. For their money, asylum seekers get a place on a boat which may or may not be seaworthy. In previous episodes, some of these pitiful excuses for vessels have sunk with heavy loss of life. The inevitable result of surviving a "successful" journey in one of these alleged vessels is detention, followed by deportation, unless the passengers can claim asylum. Asylum is granted occasionally, as in the recent case of 40 bona fide Afghanis whose boat was thoughtfully blown up by one of their shipmates when intercepted by the Australian navy. Australian authorities say they’ll charge the person responsible, and the matter is still under investigation. The Australian government has been accused of “going soft” on illegal entry That’s a spinning version of the facts, in that the flow of boat people dried up, the last detainees were removed from detention, and there wasn’t a problem until this year. The actual laws haven’t changed, and illegal entry is still illegal entry. If you want to get to Australia, all you need to do is pick up the phone. There’s some paperwork, but you don’t have to spend the equivalent of a few years wages and risk death to do it. In Sri Lanka, in particular, there’s an Australian embassy in Colombo, so it’s hardly necessary to got to such lengths just to get detained. There’s also an Australian embassy in Islamabad, same situation. The Australian public as a whole doesn’t mind refugees, but it does object to providing a source of revenue for people smugglers and their related vermin. The boat people are being mercilessly exploited. Nobody wants to promote the idea that this form of entry into Australia is a good idea. There’s also the issue of fairness, where illegal entrants consume resources which could be directed to legitimate entry programs. Nor is there any real case for claiming that a group of people who’ve traveled through several countries are the accepted form of refugee who just escapes over a border. That's a very basic mistake made by boat people, and does nothing for their claims to asylum. This is comparative tourism, in many cases, not refugee survivalism. Most refugees don’t have $20,000 to spend on sightseeing tours of the Indian Ocean. The extremely disadvantaged refugees also aren’t being helped by illegal entrants clogging up the machinery. That adds some natural resentment of a privileged few getting attention at the expense of the truly needy. The policy issues are very straightforward. There's no working logic to support the idea of tolerating what is basically a criminal scam, and calling it a refugee issue. The simple fact is that the hard line approach worked. Even the people smugglers and their obscene greed got the message. Australia is within its rights to simply deport illegal entrants, like every other country on Earth does on a daily basis. Come to Australia by all means, but do it legally. About half a million people do that every year, and there's no mystery to it, and it doesn't cost $20,000 per head. Talk to the local embassy, or an aid group, which will usually have a few Aussies in it, and find out how to do it. Don’t spend money on parasites and risk your life to make them richer. Note: We also have community groups from just about every country on Earth in Australia. These groups are important sources of information, support and advice. They’re particularly useful for those whose language skills may need some help understanding procedures. Just search your country name + Australia, you’ll find them soon enough.