Afghan Asylum Seekers' Boat Tragedy
It is happening again
Abdul Khaliq Fazal
January 22, 2011
How many of these tragedies have to happen so that the Australian Immigration
Department will come up with a policy which will put a stop to these tragedies
of people dying in the sea?
Each time such a tragedy occurs, there are lots of publicity and discussions
within the Australian government, the opposition, and the community about the
refugees in general and especially the boat people.
However when those days are over, the boat people and their tragedies are
forgotten until the next tragedy happens.
I remember in February 2002, when Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, met
Afghan President Hamid Karzai in New York. I was with President Karzai in that
meeting, when Mr. Howard put up his proposal to make a repatriation payment to
those Afghans who came by boat and lost their battle to stay in Australia. At
the end of that meeting, it was agreed that a ministerial delegation will visit
to discuss this issue, and find the right way to resolve the Afghan boat
people's problem with the Australian side.
Several Afghan ministerial visits were made to Australia, including the one
which was last week. All these visits and discussions have not found the right
strategy which could bring an end to the Afghan people coming to Australia by
boat.
In December 2010, seeing the images of the incident on television and reading
it on papers was heart breaking for me. It was sad to see the loss of lives of
innocent men, women and children, whom were looking for a better life and
escaping either from wars or dysfunctional governments.
In Australia, once there was Nauru as safe heaven, as claimed by the then
Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s government's “Pacific Solution’’.
I remember refugees, including children reportedly jumping overboard, after
their fishing vessel was intercepted by HMAS Adelaide in February 2002. Now the
current Prime Minister Gillard's government thinks that the East Timor solution
will bring an end to the boat people and their tragedies.
The Immigration Department claims that they have done all their best to bring
an end to the boat people's problems. The fact is that whatever they have done,
has not been effective so far.
What the current Australian government has to do is to come up with strong
and realistic refugee and special humanitarian polices, so it can be effective
in stopping people coming to Australia by boat.
Following are some points which should be considered by the Australian
Immigration Department.
1—There has to be compassion for many genuine refugees hoping to lead new
lives in this country.
First of all the, refugees and special humanitarian intake has to be boasted
for Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Sri Lanka. These are the countries in which 99%
of the boat people are coming from to reach Australia.
I am sure once these refugees know that they can come to Australia through a
legal channel, then they would not take the extreme way by paying approximately
$15000 to human smugglers to get them there.
Here in Australia, those people who cannot bring their family members or
close relatives legally, would be lending money to some of those people to come
by boat. Once these people are accepted as permanent residents, then they can
pay back the money.
2—The people smugglers nests are in Pakistan and in Sri Lanka. Those boat
people coming from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan are recruited by smugglers in
Pakistan and those from Sri Lanka are in Sri Lanka.
Then there is this network of partnership and cooperation between these two
groups: the Indonesian and Malaysian smugglers.
The smugglers do not tell the boat people of the tragedies and deaths that
are part of the trips to Australia, or that it can be a life threatening
journey. They are told that you will be okay until you get to Indonesia
and from there, you will be taken to Australia, by boat which will take only two
or three nights.
3—For the Australian government to capture the smugglers, the Immigration
Department will have to discuss this problem with the governments of Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia, and seek assistance from them about the
smugglers, and how they can be captured.
4—The Australian Immigration Department should look in to a direct campaign
through the media and short television ads to be screened in Afghanistan, Iran,
Iraq, Pakistan, and Indonesia. These ads should be addressed to the people whom
are intending to come by boat to Australia. It should tell them that it is a
dangerous and life threatening trip to Australia going by boat. It should tell
them how many people have lost their lives in the past 10 years going to
Australia by boat. They must make it clear that even if people arrived safely by
boat, they will not be accepted easily to remain in Australia, and can be sent
back to their country of origin.
5—Australian Prime Minister Gillard's government should organize a regional
ministerial conference in Australia. The aim of the conference should be finding
the right way of putting an end to people coming to Australia by boat.
Representatives of those countries which their citizens are coming to Australia
by boat should also be invited; after all it is also a matter of national
security.
Abdul Khaliq Fazal was the former Minister of Public Works from 2001-2002,
President of the Evaluation and Privatization Commission of Public Enterprises
from 2002-2004, and an advisor to President Karzai in the 2004 Presidential
Elections. He can be reached at
a_k_fazal@yahoo.com.au
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