SYDNEY // Australia told Indonesia on Monday to better secure its borders in a stinging rebuke after Jakarta demanded answers to allegations Canberra paid to turn back a boat of asylum-seekers.
The response from foreign minister Julie Bishop came after the Indonesian foreign ministry said on Saturday that the captain and five crew of a boat carrying migrants were each paid US$5,000 by an Australian immigration official to turn back to Indonesia.
If true, Indonesia said, it would be “a new low for the way that the Australian government is handling this issue”.
Indonesia has asked for an explanation.
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has refused to deny the allegations and came under pressure in parliament on Monday from the opposition Labor Party which has asked the auditor-general to investigate.
The Greens party has also referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police for answers on possible payments.
“This government does not feel the need to broadcast our intentions and our tactics to our enemies,” Mr Abbott told parliament.
Ms Bishop suggested in an interview with The Australian newspaper that Indonesia was to blame for failing to properly manage its borders.
“I look forward to hearing the full results of Indonesia’s investigation of the people-smuggling crimes committed in Indonesia,” she said.
This should include “any breaches of passport and visa laws, and establishing whether the captains and crews of these boats are part of people-smuggling syndicates or are paid by them”, she added.
“The best way for Indonesia to resolve any concerns it has about Operation Sovereign Borders is for Indonesia to enforce sovereignty over its borders,” Ms Bishop said, referring to Australia’s anti-people smuggling policy.
“Operation Sovereign Borders is necessary because Indonesian boats with Indonesian crews are leaving Indonesia with the express intention of breaching our sovereignty, facilitated by illegal people-smuggling syndicates.”
Agus Barnas, a spokesman for Indonesia’s security ministry, said Ms Bishop was wrong to simply blame his country and warned that if the payment allegations were true it “will drive Indonesian crew and fishermen to race among themselves for extra money”.
“Indonesian waters are vast and we have limited manpower,” he said.
* Agence France-Presse
