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| Australian Leader Is Pressed on Whether Migrant Smugglers Were Paid to Turn Back | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| SYDNEY, Australia — Australian opposition lawmakers said Saturday that they would press Prime Minister Tony Abbott to reveal whether the government paid smugglers to turn a boat full of migrants back to Indonesia after intercepting it at sea. | SYDNEY, Australia — Australian opposition lawmakers said Saturday that they would press Prime Minister Tony Abbott to reveal whether the government paid smugglers to turn a boat full of migrants back to Indonesia after intercepting it at sea. |
| Migrants from the boat gave that account to workers for a United Nations refugee agency in Indonesia, a United Nations official said Friday. In an Australian radio interview that day, Mr. Abbott, asked about news reports that made the same assertion, neither confirmed nor denied it, but he said the government was determined to “stop the boats by hook or by crook.” | Migrants from the boat gave that account to workers for a United Nations refugee agency in Indonesia, a United Nations official said Friday. In an Australian radio interview that day, Mr. Abbott, asked about news reports that made the same assertion, neither confirmed nor denied it, but he said the government was determined to “stop the boats by hook or by crook.” |
| Richard Marles, the opposition Labor Party’s spokesman for immigration, said Saturday that Mr. Abbott’s refusal to clearly deny having paid human traffickers “leaves one with the only possible assumption that that may well have been exactly what happened.” | Richard Marles, the opposition Labor Party’s spokesman for immigration, said Saturday that Mr. Abbott’s refusal to clearly deny having paid human traffickers “leaves one with the only possible assumption that that may well have been exactly what happened.” |
| The minority Greens Party said it would submit a motion in the Senate, possibly as early as Monday, demanding that the government produce any documents related to the interception of the boat. | The minority Greens Party said it would submit a motion in the Senate, possibly as early as Monday, demanding that the government produce any documents related to the interception of the boat. |
| “Paying cash bribes to boat crews amounts to people trafficking,” Sarah Hanson-Young, a Greens senator, said Saturday in a statement. “The government does not have a mandate to break the law or a blank check to allow handing over wads of cash in the middle of the ocean.” She said Parliament had a responsibility to find out what had happened. | “Paying cash bribes to boat crews amounts to people trafficking,” Sarah Hanson-Young, a Greens senator, said Saturday in a statement. “The government does not have a mandate to break the law or a blank check to allow handing over wads of cash in the middle of the ocean.” She said Parliament had a responsibility to find out what had happened. |
| Mr. Abbott and his immigration minister, Peter Dutton, have repeatedly refused to discuss the specifics of how the Australian authorities deal with asylum-seekers at sea. The government has pledged to turn migrant boats around to stop them from entering Australia’s territorial waters, and it holds migrants at offshore detention centers to discourage others from attempting the journey to Australia. | Mr. Abbott and his immigration minister, Peter Dutton, have repeatedly refused to discuss the specifics of how the Australian authorities deal with asylum-seekers at sea. The government has pledged to turn migrant boats around to stop them from entering Australia’s territorial waters, and it holds migrants at offshore detention centers to discourage others from attempting the journey to Australia. |
| Human rights groups and the United Nations have strongly criticized Australia’s immigration policies. | Human rights groups and the United Nations have strongly criticized Australia’s immigration policies. |
| The new allegation comes amid a crisis in Southeast Asia in which thousands of desperate migrants have fled Myanmar and Bangladesh on rickety boats, some of which were left abandoned at sea — a development that has drawn new attention to the brutal tactics of human-trafficking rings. Joe Lowry, a Bangkok-based spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said paying such smugglers could not be justified. | The new allegation comes amid a crisis in Southeast Asia in which thousands of desperate migrants have fled Myanmar and Bangladesh on rickety boats, some of which were left abandoned at sea — a development that has drawn new attention to the brutal tactics of human-trafficking rings. Joe Lowry, a Bangkok-based spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said paying such smugglers could not be justified. |
| “We see no circumstances under which paying people smugglers can be in the interest of vulnerable migrants,” Mr. Lowry said. “This is all the more so in light of well-documented gross violations of the human rights of migrants by unscrupulous smugglers in recent weeks and months.” | “We see no circumstances under which paying people smugglers can be in the interest of vulnerable migrants,” Mr. Lowry said. “This is all the more so in light of well-documented gross violations of the human rights of migrants by unscrupulous smugglers in recent weeks and months.” |
| The boat that Australia intercepted last month held 54 migrants from Sri Lanka, 10 from Bangladesh and one from Myanmar, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency, Baloch Babar, said Friday. They told United Nations workers that after the vessel was intercepted at sea, they were taken aboard an Australian customs vessel for four days. “They were then put on two blue boats and the crews were paid to take them back to Indonesia,” Mr. Babar said. | The boat that Australia intercepted last month held 54 migrants from Sri Lanka, 10 from Bangladesh and one from Myanmar, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency, Baloch Babar, said Friday. They told United Nations workers that after the vessel was intercepted at sea, they were taken aboard an Australian customs vessel for four days. “They were then put on two blue boats and the crews were paid to take them back to Indonesia,” Mr. Babar said. |
| Indonesia is often a transit point for migrants trying to reach Australia. | Indonesia is often a transit point for migrants trying to reach Australia. |
| The issue of asylum-seekers who arrive by sea has dogged three successive Australian governments. Mr. Abbott said no boats carrying such migrants had reached Australian waters since he took office in September 2013. But his policy of turning boats back, or towing them close to Indonesia’s territorial waters, has strained relations with Indonesia’s leaders. | The issue of asylum-seekers who arrive by sea has dogged three successive Australian governments. Mr. Abbott said no boats carrying such migrants had reached Australian waters since he took office in September 2013. But his policy of turning boats back, or towing them close to Indonesia’s territorial waters, has strained relations with Indonesia’s leaders. |
| Indonesia’s foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, said Saturday that she had raised the payments allegation with the Australian ambassador. “He promised to bring my question to Canberra,” Reuters quoted her as saying, referring to the Australian capital. “We are really concerned, if it is confirmed.” | Indonesia’s foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, said Saturday that she had raised the payments allegation with the Australian ambassador. “He promised to bring my question to Canberra,” Reuters quoted her as saying, referring to the Australian capital. “We are really concerned, if it is confirmed.” |