Lone children found on people - smuggling boats
Tom Allard in Jakarta
Unaccompanied children are increasingly turning up as asylum seekers on vessels attempting to cross from Indonesia to Australia, the Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, said yesterday.
People-smugglers charge upto $18,000 for the trip from the Middle East and Sri Lanka, meaning families can sometimes only afford to send one member.
“People have bought the eldest son a ticket,” Senator Evans said.
This week, Indonesian police stopped a boat as it was about to depart from West Timor to Australia. Among the 13 asylum-seekers detained was a nine-year-old and two 17-year- olds. Other boats that have made it to Australia have also included minors.
Senator Evans said people-smugglers were changing tactics to avoid detection by police. This included moving asylum seekers quickly from Indonesia onto a boat headed for Australia.
“They are people who have been put, if you like, on a fast track through third countries like Malaysia, brought in quickly to Indonesia,” he said.
“Some of them have only been on a beach for a couple of hours before they get on a boat.” Senator Evans praised Indonesian police after the arrest this week of Haj Sakih, an alleged people-smuggling ringleader detained on Wednesday night. He also said the Australian Federal Police assisted in the operation to detain Sakih.