Indonesia has become a key transit point for illegal migrants in the region, but efforts to curb people-smuggling are being hampered by a dearth of stringent laws to punish offenders, officials say.
Eko Daniyanto, head of the people-smuggling unit for the Indonesian national police, said international people-smuggling syndicates had operated in Indonesia since 2005.
But the absence of laws criminalising people-smuggling meant suspects could only be charged under a 1992 immigration law, and those found guilty faced a maximum sentence of four years, he said.
A number of alleged people-smugglers have been arrested since last year, including Iraqis, Afghans and Indonesians, Daniyanto said. He did not give figures.
Tracking the journeys
Every year, hundreds of migrants from conflict-ridden countries such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka enter Indonesia illegally, capitalizing on its poorly patrolled and porous borders, said the spokesman for Indonesia's Directorate-General of Immigration, Maroloan Barimbing.
Many illegal migrants travel to Indonesia through Malaysia by boat, said Anggaria Lopis, spokesman for the police in Indonesia's Riau Islands province, which has become a key entry point.
"People-smugglers arrange asylum-seekers' accommodation in Malaysia and travel to Indonesia. They are paid as much as US$3,000 to take the migrants by boat," he said. From Indonesia, they set out for Australia, often in unseaworthy boats.
Despite cooperation between Indonesian and Malaysian police, people-smuggling rings were hard to break, he said.
Damien Kingsbury, associate professor with the School of International and Political Studies at Australia’s Deakin University, said: "Indonesia has done little to stop people-smuggling, but it is not a major issue for Indonesia - few people want to end up there."
Even so, about 1,600 asylum-seekers have arrived in Indonesia this year and applied for refugee status with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Barimbing said.
The deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka and good weather, which is conducive to small boats crossing the oceans, are partly behind this year's influx of asylum-seekers, Kingsbury said.
Political tensions
In recent weeks, tensions have arisen between Australia and Indonesia over how to tackle the flow of migrants and asylum-seekers.
In the latest incident, 78 Sri Lankans refused to disembark from an Australian customs vessel docked off Indonesia’s Bintan Island, and demanded they be taken to Australia.
Australia wanted the refugee claims of the Sri Lankans, who were rescued in international waters on 18 October, to be processed in an Australian-funded immigration detention centre on Bintan Island.
Indonesia agreed to take them for processing on humanitarian grounds - but ruled out a similar move in the future.
Australia promised all the migrants that genuine refugees among them would be speedily resettled abroad.
Legal solution
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on 20 October, with technical cooperation to fight people-smuggling on the agenda.
Australia has in the past jailed several Indonesians for people-smuggling, and Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, acknowledged there was a need for similar laws in Indonesia to make people-smuggling a criminal offence.
"We need laws that mete out the heaviest punishment possible to people-smugglers. The existing law doesn't provide for tough sanctions," Faizasyah told IRIN.
But Faizasyah said some of those jailed were poor fishermen who were enticed by the prospect of making more money by allowing their boats to be used to carry asylum-seekers. "Having said that, as willing partners they deserve to be punished," he said.
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Eko Daniyanto, head of the people-smuggling unit for the Indonesian national police, said international people-smuggling syndicates had operated in Indonesia since 2005.
But the absence of laws criminalising people-smuggling meant suspects could only be charged under a 1992 immigration law, and those found guilty faced a maximum sentence of four years, he said.
A number of alleged people-smugglers have been arrested since last year, including Iraqis, Afghans and Indonesians, Daniyanto said. He did not give figures.
Tracking the journeys
Every year, hundreds of migrants from conflict-ridden countries such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka enter Indonesia illegally, capitalizing on its poorly patrolled and porous borders, said the spokesman for Indonesia's Directorate-General of Immigration, Maroloan Barimbing.
Many illegal migrants travel to Indonesia through Malaysia by boat, said Anggaria Lopis, spokesman for the police in Indonesia's Riau Islands province, which has become a key entry point.
"People-smugglers arrange asylum-seekers' accommodation in Malaysia and travel to Indonesia. They are paid as much as US$3,000 to take the migrants by boat," he said. From Indonesia, they set out for Australia, often in unseaworthy boats.
Despite cooperation between Indonesian and Malaysian police, people-smuggling rings were hard to break, he said.
Photo: Jefri Aries/IRIN  |
| A Sri Lankan asylum-seeker, part of the group of over 250, talks on his phone on a boat. The asylum-seekers described harrowing weeks after leaving Sri Lanka, sheltering in a Malaysian jungle and then heading out to sea in their bid to get to Australia |
Even so, about 1,600 asylum-seekers have arrived in Indonesia this year and applied for refugee status with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Barimbing said.
The deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka and good weather, which is conducive to small boats crossing the oceans, are partly behind this year's influx of asylum-seekers, Kingsbury said.
Political tensions
In recent weeks, tensions have arisen between Australia and Indonesia over how to tackle the flow of migrants and asylum-seekers.
In the latest incident, 78 Sri Lankans refused to disembark from an Australian customs vessel docked off Indonesia’s Bintan Island, and demanded they be taken to Australia.
Australia wanted the refugee claims of the Sri Lankans, who were rescued in international waters on 18 October, to be processed in an Australian-funded immigration detention centre on Bintan Island.
Indonesia agreed to take them for processing on humanitarian grounds - but ruled out a similar move in the future.
Australia promised all the migrants that genuine refugees among them would be speedily resettled abroad.
Legal solution
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on 20 October, with technical cooperation to fight people-smuggling on the agenda.
Australia has in the past jailed several Indonesians for people-smuggling, and Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, acknowledged there was a need for similar laws in Indonesia to make people-smuggling a criminal offence.
"We need laws that mete out the heaviest punishment possible to people-smugglers. The existing law doesn't provide for tough sanctions," Faizasyah told IRIN.
But Faizasyah said some of those jailed were poor fishermen who were enticed by the prospect of making more money by allowing their boats to be used to carry asylum-seekers. "Having said that, as willing partners they deserve to be punished," he said.
atp/ey/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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