Australia's domestic spy agency will soon have the power to crack people-smuggling syndicates using bases overseas as the government beefs up its border protection laws.
Beset by a steady flow of asylum-seeker boats, the government last night announced plans to extend ASIO's mandate beyond the prevention of espionage and terrorism.
The Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, the Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, and the Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O'Connor, outlined changes that would allow ASIO to investigate foreign intelligence that it was previously stopped from pursuing.
Australians who fund people-smuggling ventures, and those who seek to exploit asylum seekers and endanger lives, will face fines of up to $220,000 or 20 years' jail under the plan.
David McKnight, associate professor of journalism at the University of NSW who has written extensively about ASIO, said the changes underlined a shift in ASIO's responsibilities.
''This is quite a significant change. It highlights a trend that's pushing ASIO into the investigation of crimes rather than national security. The tendency is for ASIO to operate more like a police force.''
The government will also expand ASIO's ability to tap phones and intercept communications by allowing it to target non-state actors, such as criminal groups.
-SMH
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Saturday, February 27, 2010
Local police chief `fooled'; migrants flee to Australia: 45 Asylum seekers from Afghanistan have fled
LATEST NEWS: 2130 WAST
Up to 41 asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Turkey fled to Australia by chartered boat after a local police chief was said to have been fooled by a telephone caller who is now suspected to have been a people smuggler.
An unidentified caller who claimed he was an official at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta ordered West Sabu Police chief First Insp. Kalansansius Dhosa to release the asylum seekers then in his custody.
The caller, now suspected to have been a member of a human trafficking ring in West Nusa Tenggara, asked the West Sabu Police to release the asylum seekers because they were about to be moved to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.
As the boat containing the asylum seekers arrived at the Sabu Raijua Port, it suddenly changed course and headed off in the direction of Australia.
East Nusa Tenggara Police chief Brig. Gen. Antonius Bambang Suedi confirmed the details of the escape.
"The caller is believed to have been at the port, so when the immigrants arrived, they were immediately placed on the boat to Australia," said Bambang.
"According to the explanation from the West Sabu Police chief, he was tricked into releasing the immigrants without police escort and allowing them to continue their trip to Kupang. It *then* turned out that the boat was not going to Kupang but headed instead in the direction of Australia," he added.
But the police account was challenged by a local Sabu community leader, Markus Dima, who claimed that the asylum seekers bought their freedom by bribing the police, as reported by AP.
Bambang said the fleeing group had most likely already arrived at Ashmore Island, a low-lying uninhabited Australian territory bordering Indonesia. The group of islands concerned were previously sometimes considered part of the Rote Ndao Regency of East Nusa Tenggara and have been used by traditional Indonesian fishermen.
The group of asylum seekers had entered Indonesian territory illegally because they did not have visas. They had been detained for six weeks at the police station at Sabu.
The escapees were part of a group of 55 immigrants detained on Sabu Island since Jan. 13. The other 14 are being held in Kupang.
Bambang said he had asked police at the Sabu Raijua Port to hold the immigrants until immigration authorities arrived, but they were cheated by an unidentified caller. "We will examine the West Sabu Police chief," he said.
Before fleeing, the illegal boat people had reportedly threatened to commit suicide if forced to move to Kupang. The asylum seekers, mostly men, reportedly attempted suicide by banging their heads on the wall, hitting their heads with hard objects and jumping at passing cars.
Australia is seeking greater cooperation from Indonesian authorities to stem the growing flow of asylum seekers passing through the archipelago with the help of people smugglers and poor fishermen.
Uninhabited Ashmore island is said to be a popular destination for asylum seekers traveling by boat because setting foot there ensures Australian officials will process refugee claims under UN rules, says AP.
Last year, authorities were able to foil attempts to smuggle around 500 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and a number of other countries to Australia, also via the East Nusa Tenggara route.
-The Jakarta Post
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Up to 41 asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Turkey fled to Australia by chartered boat after a local police chief was said to have been fooled by a telephone caller who is now suspected to have been a people smuggler.
An unidentified caller who claimed he was an official at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta ordered West Sabu Police chief First Insp. Kalansansius Dhosa to release the asylum seekers then in his custody.
The caller, now suspected to have been a member of a human trafficking ring in West Nusa Tenggara, asked the West Sabu Police to release the asylum seekers because they were about to be moved to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.
As the boat containing the asylum seekers arrived at the Sabu Raijua Port, it suddenly changed course and headed off in the direction of Australia.
East Nusa Tenggara Police chief Brig. Gen. Antonius Bambang Suedi confirmed the details of the escape.
"The caller is believed to have been at the port, so when the immigrants arrived, they were immediately placed on the boat to Australia," said Bambang.
"According to the explanation from the West Sabu Police chief, he was tricked into releasing the immigrants without police escort and allowing them to continue their trip to Kupang. It *then* turned out that the boat was not going to Kupang but headed instead in the direction of Australia," he added.
But the police account was challenged by a local Sabu community leader, Markus Dima, who claimed that the asylum seekers bought their freedom by bribing the police, as reported by AP.
Bambang said the fleeing group had most likely already arrived at Ashmore Island, a low-lying uninhabited Australian territory bordering Indonesia. The group of islands concerned were previously sometimes considered part of the Rote Ndao Regency of East Nusa Tenggara and have been used by traditional Indonesian fishermen.
The group of asylum seekers had entered Indonesian territory illegally because they did not have visas. They had been detained for six weeks at the police station at Sabu.
The escapees were part of a group of 55 immigrants detained on Sabu Island since Jan. 13. The other 14 are being held in Kupang.
Bambang said he had asked police at the Sabu Raijua Port to hold the immigrants until immigration authorities arrived, but they were cheated by an unidentified caller. "We will examine the West Sabu Police chief," he said.
Before fleeing, the illegal boat people had reportedly threatened to commit suicide if forced to move to Kupang. The asylum seekers, mostly men, reportedly attempted suicide by banging their heads on the wall, hitting their heads with hard objects and jumping at passing cars.
Australia is seeking greater cooperation from Indonesian authorities to stem the growing flow of asylum seekers passing through the archipelago with the help of people smugglers and poor fishermen.
Uninhabited Ashmore island is said to be a popular destination for asylum seekers traveling by boat because setting foot there ensures Australian officials will process refugee claims under UN rules, says AP.
Last year, authorities were able to foil attempts to smuggle around 500 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and a number of other countries to Australia, also via the East Nusa Tenggara route.
-The Jakarta Post
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Asylum seeker boat intercepted near Ashmore Islands carrying 10 passengers
A SUSPECTED asylum seeker boat with 10 passengers aboard has been intercepted near the Ashmore Islands of northwestern Australia.
It is the 14th boat to have arrived in Australian waters so far in 2010.
Border Protection Command said the boat was intercepted at 11.35am (AEDT) today, 16 nautical miles north of the Ashmore Islands.
There are believed to be 10 passengers on board, along with three crew members, a statement from Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor's office said.
They will be taken to Christmas Island where they will undergo security, identity and health checks.
-NEWS.COM
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It is the 14th boat to have arrived in Australian waters so far in 2010.
Border Protection Command said the boat was intercepted at 11.35am (AEDT) today, 16 nautical miles north of the Ashmore Islands.
There are believed to be 10 passengers on board, along with three crew members, a statement from Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor's office said.
They will be taken to Christmas Island where they will undergo security, identity and health checks.
-NEWS.COM
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Indonesia stops 93 AFGHAN asylum seekers
LATEST NEWS: 2055 WAST
Indonesian police say they are detaining 93 Afghan asylum seekers suspected of trying to reach Australia.
Lt. Col. Herukoco, chief of Sukabumi district police, says police stopped three minibuses carrying the Afghans including five woman and three children early Saturday in Indonesia's West Java province near Jakarta.
Herukoco, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, says the group told police they left their war-ravaged homeland to start new lives as refugees in Australia.
He says the group did not have Indonesian visas and has been transferred to an immigration detention centre while their identities are confirmed.
-AP
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Indonesian police say they are detaining 93 Afghan asylum seekers suspected of trying to reach Australia.
Lt. Col. Herukoco, chief of Sukabumi district police, says police stopped three minibuses carrying the Afghans including five woman and three children early Saturday in Indonesia's West Java province near Jakarta.
Herukoco, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, says the group told police they left their war-ravaged homeland to start new lives as refugees in Australia.
He says the group did not have Indonesian visas and has been transferred to an immigration detention centre while their identities are confirmed.
-AP
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Saturday, February 20, 2010
Questions raised over mystery asylum boat: 105 feared drowned
The family of an Afghan man who's gone missing en route to Australia have called on the Federal Government to find out what may have happened to him. The family fears that Mirza Hussain Jaffari was on a boat which may have sunk after leaving Indonesia in October.
Last month, members of the Afghan community in Brisbane expressed concern about the vessel, which they think had more than 100 people on board. But the Australian Government says it knows nothing about the boat.
In early October, Mirza Hussain Jaffari apparently called his family from Indonesia, saying he was on a boat about to head towards Australia. He said 107 people were on the boat, which was new.
Mirza Hussain Jaffari's cousin, Jaffar Hussain, is speaking from Afghanistan.
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: Mirza Hussain Jaffari spoke to his family in early October, probably the 2nd of October at midnight when he last time called his family and said that he's now leaving for Australia by boat.
DAVID WEBER: He did not say where he was leaving from?
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: No he did not mention about the place he was leaving from because he was, maybe he didn't thought it necessary because his family doesn't know about Indonesia at all. He said that there are other Hazaras, other Afghans, who are on board.
DAVID WEBER: Why did Mirza Hussain Jaffari leave Afghanistan?
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: There are various reasons. The first thing is really security and political instability in Afghanistan. These village has been under attack for the last three years by Taliban-supported Kuchi tribes.
DAVID WEBER: Does he have a wife and children?
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: No he does not have a wife and children. He has a mother, three sisters, one younger brother.
DAVID WEBER: So it was a big decision for him to go because he had people relying on him in Afghanistan?
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: Yes it was a very difficult decision for him and we also don't know how he paid thousands of dollars to smugglers to take him to Australia. Where did he find it from? Maybe he sold a part of his land or something.
DAVID WEBER: Mr Hussain has called on the Australian Government to hold an investigation, and release any information it may have.
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: If they are in the custody of the Australian Government, if they are held in any detention centres, the families have not heard from their relatives for last three months and they are very much concerned and worried.
If the Australian Government does not have any information about the boat, we appeal from the Government of Australia to contact the authorities in Indonesia and start a search and rescue operation for them.
DAVID WEBER: A spokesman for the Federal Government says there's no evidence that a boatload of more than 100 people left Indonesia on or about October the 2nd and he says it's only speculation that a vessel sank.
-ABC
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Last month, members of the Afghan community in Brisbane expressed concern about the vessel, which they think had more than 100 people on board. But the Australian Government says it knows nothing about the boat.
In early October, Mirza Hussain Jaffari apparently called his family from Indonesia, saying he was on a boat about to head towards Australia. He said 107 people were on the boat, which was new.
Mirza Hussain Jaffari's cousin, Jaffar Hussain, is speaking from Afghanistan.
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: Mirza Hussain Jaffari spoke to his family in early October, probably the 2nd of October at midnight when he last time called his family and said that he's now leaving for Australia by boat.
DAVID WEBER: He did not say where he was leaving from?
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: No he did not mention about the place he was leaving from because he was, maybe he didn't thought it necessary because his family doesn't know about Indonesia at all. He said that there are other Hazaras, other Afghans, who are on board.
DAVID WEBER: Why did Mirza Hussain Jaffari leave Afghanistan?
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: There are various reasons. The first thing is really security and political instability in Afghanistan. These village has been under attack for the last three years by Taliban-supported Kuchi tribes.
DAVID WEBER: Does he have a wife and children?
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: No he does not have a wife and children. He has a mother, three sisters, one younger brother.
DAVID WEBER: So it was a big decision for him to go because he had people relying on him in Afghanistan?
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: Yes it was a very difficult decision for him and we also don't know how he paid thousands of dollars to smugglers to take him to Australia. Where did he find it from? Maybe he sold a part of his land or something.
DAVID WEBER: Mr Hussain has called on the Australian Government to hold an investigation, and release any information it may have.
JAFFAR HUSSAIN: If they are in the custody of the Australian Government, if they are held in any detention centres, the families have not heard from their relatives for last three months and they are very much concerned and worried.
If the Australian Government does not have any information about the boat, we appeal from the Government of Australia to contact the authorities in Indonesia and start a search and rescue operation for them.
DAVID WEBER: A spokesman for the Federal Government says there's no evidence that a boatload of more than 100 people left Indonesia on or about October the 2nd and he says it's only speculation that a vessel sank.
-ABC
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