In the six month period between May and October Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) estimate that more than 21,000 migrants landed on the small Italian island of Lampedusa. During the same period this year fewer than 200 migrants have arrived there, as a result of Italy's 'push back' policy. In 2008, MSF treated more than 1,400 migrants who arrived on the docks of Lampedusa in need of urgent medical assistance. Since May this year that figure has been less than 160.
Many of the migrants who made it to Lampedusa were treated for osteo-muscular complaints, burns resulting from exposure to sun and fuel, and dehydration from the prolonged and dangerous sea crossing. Increasingly, children and pregnant women, who are particularly at risk, were among those making the journey.* Now, as a consequence in the steep drop off in numbers MSF is being forced to close down its Lampedusa operation.
The organisation will continue however to try and provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable migrants on the mainland despite the increasingly restrictive policies introduced recently in Italy. “We have reports that some boats are also being sent to Porto Empedocle, in Sicily,” explained Loris de Filippi, MSF operational coordinator. “We have tried to assess migrants’ conditions upon landing and provide assistance, but we have not been granted authorization by the local authorities.”
All these migrants had originally set sail to cross the Mediterranean to Italy (or Malta) from the Libyan coast. However, since May and the signing of a deal between the Italian and Libyan governments, where the Libyans agreed to accept migrants forced to turn back by armed Italian navy vessels, the numbers even trying the journey have dropped by 90% according to the Libyan Interior Minister Abdelfattah Laabidi. As a consequence Italy can evade their international recognised requirement to offer the opportunity for applying for asylum, whilst sending people who have endured massive hardships to get that far back to an unknown and potential hazardous future, again in contravention of international law.**
“We often hear horrific stories from our patients about what they endure during the journey,” said Antonio Virgilio, MSF head of mission in Italy and Malta. “They have crossed the desert, been locked up in prisons where they have been given no food or water, they have been mistreated, beaten up, women have been raped. They go through hell before they finally manage to get on a boat to Italy or Malta. And now they are being sent back to relive this nightmare all over again. This is a huge threat to their health and even their lives.”
In 2008, round 35,000 migrants successfully made the journey to Italian territory. 75% of these sought political or humanitarian asylum and half of these applications were granted, according to the UN refugee agency. At the same time Libyan jails and detention centres were bursting at the seams. In 2007 there were more than 6,000 undocumented migrants detained in the country. Yet, according to a senior Libyan passport office official "Fewer than 2,000 immigrants are (now) being held in 12 detention centres across the country."
This is because of a massive forced deportation programme, despite Libyan protestations to the contrary, largely financed by Italy. So effectively Italy has outsourced the migration problem possed by the African crossing to the Libyans, a country where even the far from ideal European 'standards' for detention centres and migrant processing are not adhered to (see: Libya: Inside The Detention Centres). "Libya does not have the conditions needed to provide a solution with adequate protection for refugees or asylum seekers at the moment," UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres, said in September. "There are detention circumstances that are appalling and there is an effect that people that deserve and need protection will be sent back to their countries of origin." Out of sight, out of mind as far as the Italians are concerned.
* Also in 2008, one in 10 women seen by MSF were also pregnant.
** And treaties against 'non-refoulement', the forced return of people to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened or where they would face a risk of torture.
Friday, 20 November 2009
Friendship's End
Friendship Park on the border between San Diego and Tijuana, a place where divided families have been able to meet and hold weddings and Christmas parties or where lovers divided by the international border between Mexico and the US could meet since it was opened in 1971 by Pat Nixon, wife of the then US president, as part of her attempts to promote US-Mexican relations. Now it is now a less than friendly place.
Originally planned as a US park with picnic tables and a children's play area where people from both sides of the border could meet without the need to go through immigration control, it suffered its first set back in 1994 when the US put up a mesh fence to stop migrants and drug traffickers. But it was still possible to touch somebody on the other side of the fence, to kiss and hold hands, even under the steely gaze of the border patrol.
Now the park is isolated by a newly finished section of the high tech fence with sensors, radar, lighting and cameras. Now the US side can only be accessed for 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday, but only after vetting by border agents and only then for a maximum of 25 people. Needless to say it is not a universally popular move. According to Katy Parkinson, an American resident in Tijuana who runs a migrant charity "(The building of the fence) was an act of cruelty. Here, grandmothers met their grandchildren for the first time, they took photos, people could find each other again."
Originally planned as a US park with picnic tables and a children's play area where people from both sides of the border could meet without the need to go through immigration control, it suffered its first set back in 1994 when the US put up a mesh fence to stop migrants and drug traffickers. But it was still possible to touch somebody on the other side of the fence, to kiss and hold hands, even under the steely gaze of the border patrol.
Now the park is isolated by a newly finished section of the high tech fence with sensors, radar, lighting and cameras. Now the US side can only be accessed for 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday, but only after vetting by border agents and only then for a maximum of 25 people. Needless to say it is not a universally popular move. According to Katy Parkinson, an American resident in Tijuana who runs a migrant charity "(The building of the fence) was an act of cruelty. Here, grandmothers met their grandchildren for the first time, they took photos, people could find each other again."
'Bosses Exploit Migrant Workers' Shock Horror
The BBC News have a story today, headlined 'Hospital cleaners 'blackmailed''* on their website, about three manages from ISS Mediclean who have been arrested during a raid at Kingston Hospital. It appears that these 'senior managers' were 'blackmailing' junior members of staff by threatening to report the cleaners to the UKBA, we assume because they did not haver the correct documentation and were easy targets for exploitation.
Shock Horror! This goes on all the time. That is the handy role 'illegal' workers have fulfilled for years and, despite all the government posturing and law-making, will fulfil for years to come. It is also prevalent in the service industries and in particular those that have been privatised, where 'outsourcing' companies pay very low wages and employ clandestine workers that they they know they can fire if they 'get out of line', trying to organise in a union or demanding the sort of wages and conditions (e.g.: the SOAS cleaners) that any ordinary worker would consider to be standard. That is how these companies make their massive profits and pay large dividends to their shareholders.
And what does the ISS PR stooge put up to comment on the case have to say? "ISS deeply regrets any adverse reaction this incident may have had on the patients, staff and visitors to the hospital. It is our responsibility to work within the law and to ensure that our employees do the same, which includes demonstrating their right to work legally." Pull the other one!
Racist organisations and dullard tabloid newspapers are also constantly banging on about foreign workers coming over here stealing 'our' jobs, working for cheaper wages. Yet it is the people that run these companies and that are paying the low wages that are exploiting these people for their own ends. The foreign and undocumented workers do not turn up at factory gates and persuade the bosses to cut wages so they can employ them. It is the other way round and it is the bosses that the people should be targeting not scapegoating 'foreign workers'.
* Typically the Mail's take on the incident was 'Hospital cleaning bosses at major firm arrested over 'migrant fraud'', despite using the same Press Association-written story as the basis for their article and the first sentence of their piece being: "Three managers at an NHS hospital cleaning company have been arrested on suspicion of blackmailing foreign staff." Being arrested for blackmail of workers, 'illegal' or otherwise, obvioulsy doesn't make for a Daily Mail sort of headline that arrests for immigration offences does.
Shock Horror! This goes on all the time. That is the handy role 'illegal' workers have fulfilled for years and, despite all the government posturing and law-making, will fulfil for years to come. It is also prevalent in the service industries and in particular those that have been privatised, where 'outsourcing' companies pay very low wages and employ clandestine workers that they they know they can fire if they 'get out of line', trying to organise in a union or demanding the sort of wages and conditions (e.g.: the SOAS cleaners) that any ordinary worker would consider to be standard. That is how these companies make their massive profits and pay large dividends to their shareholders.
And what does the ISS PR stooge put up to comment on the case have to say? "ISS deeply regrets any adverse reaction this incident may have had on the patients, staff and visitors to the hospital. It is our responsibility to work within the law and to ensure that our employees do the same, which includes demonstrating their right to work legally." Pull the other one!
Racist organisations and dullard tabloid newspapers are also constantly banging on about foreign workers coming over here stealing 'our' jobs, working for cheaper wages. Yet it is the people that run these companies and that are paying the low wages that are exploiting these people for their own ends. The foreign and undocumented workers do not turn up at factory gates and persuade the bosses to cut wages so they can employ them. It is the other way round and it is the bosses that the people should be targeting not scapegoating 'foreign workers'.
* Typically the Mail's take on the incident was 'Hospital cleaning bosses at major firm arrested over 'migrant fraud'', despite using the same Press Association-written story as the basis for their article and the first sentence of their piece being: "Three managers at an NHS hospital cleaning company have been arrested on suspicion of blackmailing foreign staff." Being arrested for blackmail of workers, 'illegal' or otherwise, obvioulsy doesn't make for a Daily Mail sort of headline that arrests for immigration offences does.
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Loon-Plage 'Jungle' Bulldozed
The 'Jungle' at Loon-Plage near Dunkerque was bulldozed again yesterday morning. The camp had previously been dismantled by the authorities in May prior to the Calais No Border Camp and in December during the coldest period of last Winter. A large number of workers of the Dunkerque Port Authority (PAD) together with the police moved in early yesterday morning. Using a bulldozer, crane, tractors and a lorry they quickly destroyed the camp whilst the police rounded up and arrested 30 adults & 11 minors, of the 50 mainly Iraqis and Afghanis currently living there.
Fortunately volunteers from MRAP (the People's Anti-Racist and Pro-Friendship Movement), SALAM and other groups including Calais Migrant Solidarity managed to rescue some of the migrants' personal property, sleeping equipment and clothes. These will be returned to the migrants when they have inevitably been released after a day or so in detention and have made their way back to Dunkerque. In fact, the camp was already being rebuilt by some of the migrants that had managed to evade arrest and by local volunteers later that night.
The irony is that just over a week ago the the town council, in agreement with the port authorities, had been given permission to set up showers the very same migrants! This echoes what happened last December when on the 16th more than 40 police surrounded the Loon-Plage camp, then shelter to around 80 Afghan and Iraqis. After numerous arrests, the tents and shacks were razed by bulldozer by order of the Sub-Prefecture. Then, 2 weeks later on the
30th, Loon-Plage's mayor, after a week of pressure from the NGOs and the migrants themselves, without consulting the port, the local community, the Border Police or the Sub-Prefecture, sent a dozen municipal employees to erect a tent heated with gas and provided with meals paid by the municipality.
Meanwhile, the police have been trying to find local land owners in Angres to file complaints so they can officially take action to dismantle the recently rebuilt 'Jungle' there.
Fortunately volunteers from MRAP (the People's Anti-Racist and Pro-Friendship Movement), SALAM and other groups including Calais Migrant Solidarity managed to rescue some of the migrants' personal property, sleeping equipment and clothes. These will be returned to the migrants when they have inevitably been released after a day or so in detention and have made their way back to Dunkerque. In fact, the camp was already being rebuilt by some of the migrants that had managed to evade arrest and by local volunteers later that night.
The irony is that just over a week ago the the town council, in agreement with the port authorities, had been given permission to set up showers the very same migrants! This echoes what happened last December when on the 16th more than 40 police surrounded the Loon-Plage camp, then shelter to around 80 Afghan and Iraqis. After numerous arrests, the tents and shacks were razed by bulldozer by order of the Sub-Prefecture. Then, 2 weeks later on the
30th, Loon-Plage's mayor, after a week of pressure from the NGOs and the migrants themselves, without consulting the port, the local community, the Border Police or the Sub-Prefecture, sent a dozen municipal employees to erect a tent heated with gas and provided with meals paid by the municipality.
Meanwhile, the police have been trying to find local land owners in Angres to file complaints so they can officially take action to dismantle the recently rebuilt 'Jungle' there.
Crossing Borders - Technology From Both Sides
Most struggles in Nature between predators and their prey are part of an 'arms race' where the prey constantly strive to find ways to evade capture and stay one step ahead of someone's next meal, whilst the predators seek ways to maximise the size of their haul whilst minimising their effort. It is to a degree the same in the war between clandestine migrants and thos ethat defend borders.
In the USA Ricardo Dominguez, an activist/hacker and professor at the University of California in San Diego, has developed a new tool to assist Mexican migrant workers safely cross over the border into the United States. The simple and easy to use 'Transborder Immigrant Tool' is made from just a cheap mobile phone and a free GPS application.
According to Dominguez, it consists of a "Motorola i455 cell phone, which is under $30, available even cheaper on eBay, and includes a free GPS applet. We were able to crack it and create a simple compass-like navigation system. We were also able to add other information, like where to find water left by the Border Angels, where to find Quaker help centres that will wrap your feet, how far you are from the highway—things to make the application really benefit individuals who are crossing the border."
On the other side of the (electrified) fence, or the Atlantic in this case, is the HERTI, an unmanned air vehicle or drone, developed by BAE Systems and currently being looked at by the South Coast Partnership to check for 'illegal' migrants trying to cross the Channel in currentlu unmonitored shipping.
In the USA Ricardo Dominguez, an activist/hacker and professor at the University of California in San Diego, has developed a new tool to assist Mexican migrant workers safely cross over the border into the United States. The simple and easy to use 'Transborder Immigrant Tool' is made from just a cheap mobile phone and a free GPS application.
According to Dominguez, it consists of a "Motorola i455 cell phone, which is under $30, available even cheaper on eBay, and includes a free GPS applet. We were able to crack it and create a simple compass-like navigation system. We were also able to add other information, like where to find water left by the Border Angels, where to find Quaker help centres that will wrap your feet, how far you are from the highway—things to make the application really benefit individuals who are crossing the border."
On the other side of the (electrified) fence, or the Atlantic in this case, is the HERTI, an unmanned air vehicle or drone, developed by BAE Systems and currently being looked at by the South Coast Partnership to check for 'illegal' migrants trying to cross the Channel in currentlu unmonitored shipping.
Monday, 16 November 2009
Daily Mail Going Soft On Immigration?
Two articles in two days that that don't demand an end to all immigration or mass deportation or Alan Green to be made PM or the burka to be banned or all 'foreign criminals' to be hung or birched or castrated. What is the world coming to?
First we have Vince Cable slumming it and being very reasonable and very liberal:
"The politics of immigration is a minefield. Most politicians, therefore, avoid it, except for those on the extreme fringes who want to detonate a bitter argument on race."
He points up the misconceptions about lack of housing ('right to buy' policy to blame), Poles blamed for lack of building jobs (recession to blame), people who complain about 'illegal immigrants' when they mean black and Asians.
You can tell he's a politician when he brings out his "late wife was of Indian origin" to show what a caring, unprejudiced and experienced person he is, especially as he brought up a young family in the sixties and seventies when there were "Enoch Powell’s speeches and widespread hostility to non-white immigrants." Even though there was net emigration then, "the concern was really about the changing make-up of the British population."
But even now, "while most people are more comfortable about a diverse society, there is anxiety that immigration is ‘out of control’." Who's to blame? The government of course - claimed immigration was good for the economy, keeping wage inflation down and fuelled the economic boom.
Then he's back to the myths:
"One is that our ‘overcrowded’ island is absorbing population from the rest of the world. The opposite is true. There are more Britons living overseas – about 5.5million – than foreign-born people living in Britain.
A second myth is that the population will keep rising to 70million by 2030. But in periods of recession, as in the Seventies, as many people leave as arrive. A lot of East European construction workers have already gone back.
A third myth is that the immigrant population is an economic burden. Most, however, are young and of working age, so pay more in tax and take out less in healthcare and benefits. Many new arrivals create employment for others."
Then he points out both the students are the largest group on 'arrivals' (good for the economy again) but just in case you thought you'd stayed onto the comment page of the Guardian, we get a strange section of what can only be badly edited text (must be the Guardian): "But public anxiety is not without foundation. Illegal immigration is too high. In the decade to the end of 2008, only 114 employers were prosecuted for hiring illegal immigrants." Yes, employers do get away with employing undocumented workers, despite the Labour government's claims to be putting the onus on the employer to police their own workforces' immigration status. But that is what undocumented workers are for sure? Keep the wages down.
But Vince thinks we shouldn't tolerate these 'illegals', its not cricket after all. They are "cheats". They shouldn't be "cheats getting away with it" and that's why "a blanket amnesty wouldn’t be acceptable." But then he goes and contradicts himself by claiming that "to avoid a permanent illegal underclass, there has to be scope for earned citizenship."
And his solution for this "far more tolerant country than it was" and that has "anxieties about immigration (that) have to be addressed"? The "politicians must engage with the issue." Er, but isn't that what they have always done?*
The second, rather longer, article 'Welcome to heaven, how about a cup of tea? Mail on Sunday special investigation into why asylum seekers head to Britain'. It features a David Suchet look-a-like (very photogenic and not 'off putting' in a Daily-Mail-photo-of-foreigner-sort-of-way) telling his story of why he fled Afghanistan.
We get a fairly accurate picture too of his journey half way around the world to England. But then it gets rather surreal. The lorry he and the other migrants had crossed the Channel in is stopped by police: "As we stepped off the truck, they shook our hands and said, "Welcome to England." I was given 13 cups of tea as I was so thirsty. I was happy."
And it isn't till a third of the way through the 3,000 word piece that MigrationBotch get a mention, which is a definite relief for a Mail article. But we wont spoil it for you. Just read the article but DON'T read the nasty vituperative and just plain stupid comments ("The reason Asylum figures have dropped, is because they are near enough all here in the UK").**
* By the way, there are some great comments on this article on-line, and not all your usual standard BNP-lite tripe (though there are a few of those). Its great when the Mail reader tries to engage their brains rather than their knees or spleen. Our two favourite short put-downs (for various reasons) are: "When I need advice from a Liberal, I'll ask, but don't hold your breath." & "There are lies, damned lies and statistics and your article contains lots of statistics." Outstanding.
Oh, and there's even an idiot who comes out with the line, "Just go to Migration Watch for the correct figures."
** A selection of two more favourite comments on the second article:
"what about our human rights?
what about the human rights of my diabled nephew and my sister who cannot be houses because of lack of housing caused by immigrants?
what about the human rights of british people to be proud of our nationality?
what about our human rights that we must allow everyone elses freedom of speech yet remain silent ourselves?
what about the human rights to display our religeon proudly yet be told we can't?
what about our future when there are not enough schools, hospitals, housing and prison places when were stretched to the limit already?
what about our budget deficit yet we pay for all these people who have no right to be here?
Britain has failed the British people."
&
"The hidden agenda is more scary than we think. They appear to be following the 1928 manifesto of The Frankfurt School. [Note: A sort of modern version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, except for communists rather than Jews]
1. The creation of racism offences.
2. Continual change to create confusion
3. The teaching of sex and homosexuality to children
4. The undermining of schools' and teachers' authority
5. Huge immigration to destroy identity.
6. The promotion of excessive drinking
7. Emptying of churches
8. An unreliable legal system with bias against victims of crime
9. Dependency on the state or state benefits
10. Control and dumbing down of media
11. Encouraging the breakdown of the family
The outrageous truth slips out: Labour cynically plotted to transform the entire make-up of Britain without telling us"
First we have Vince Cable slumming it and being very reasonable and very liberal:
"The politics of immigration is a minefield. Most politicians, therefore, avoid it, except for those on the extreme fringes who want to detonate a bitter argument on race."
He points up the misconceptions about lack of housing ('right to buy' policy to blame), Poles blamed for lack of building jobs (recession to blame), people who complain about 'illegal immigrants' when they mean black and Asians.
You can tell he's a politician when he brings out his "late wife was of Indian origin" to show what a caring, unprejudiced and experienced person he is, especially as he brought up a young family in the sixties and seventies when there were "Enoch Powell’s speeches and widespread hostility to non-white immigrants." Even though there was net emigration then, "the concern was really about the changing make-up of the British population."
But even now, "while most people are more comfortable about a diverse society, there is anxiety that immigration is ‘out of control’." Who's to blame? The government of course - claimed immigration was good for the economy, keeping wage inflation down and fuelled the economic boom.
Then he's back to the myths:
"One is that our ‘overcrowded’ island is absorbing population from the rest of the world. The opposite is true. There are more Britons living overseas – about 5.5million – than foreign-born people living in Britain.
A second myth is that the population will keep rising to 70million by 2030. But in periods of recession, as in the Seventies, as many people leave as arrive. A lot of East European construction workers have already gone back.
A third myth is that the immigrant population is an economic burden. Most, however, are young and of working age, so pay more in tax and take out less in healthcare and benefits. Many new arrivals create employment for others."
Then he points out both the students are the largest group on 'arrivals' (good for the economy again) but just in case you thought you'd stayed onto the comment page of the Guardian, we get a strange section of what can only be badly edited text (must be the Guardian): "But public anxiety is not without foundation. Illegal immigration is too high. In the decade to the end of 2008, only 114 employers were prosecuted for hiring illegal immigrants." Yes, employers do get away with employing undocumented workers, despite the Labour government's claims to be putting the onus on the employer to police their own workforces' immigration status. But that is what undocumented workers are for sure? Keep the wages down.
But Vince thinks we shouldn't tolerate these 'illegals', its not cricket after all. They are "cheats". They shouldn't be "cheats getting away with it" and that's why "a blanket amnesty wouldn’t be acceptable." But then he goes and contradicts himself by claiming that "to avoid a permanent illegal underclass, there has to be scope for earned citizenship."
And his solution for this "far more tolerant country than it was" and that has "anxieties about immigration (that) have to be addressed"? The "politicians must engage with the issue." Er, but isn't that what they have always done?*
The second, rather longer, article 'Welcome to heaven, how about a cup of tea? Mail on Sunday special investigation into why asylum seekers head to Britain'. It features a David Suchet look-a-like (very photogenic and not 'off putting' in a Daily-Mail-photo-of-foreigner-sort-of-way) telling his story of why he fled Afghanistan.
We get a fairly accurate picture too of his journey half way around the world to England. But then it gets rather surreal. The lorry he and the other migrants had crossed the Channel in is stopped by police: "As we stepped off the truck, they shook our hands and said, "Welcome to England." I was given 13 cups of tea as I was so thirsty. I was happy."
And it isn't till a third of the way through the 3,000 word piece that MigrationBotch get a mention, which is a definite relief for a Mail article. But we wont spoil it for you. Just read the article but DON'T read the nasty vituperative and just plain stupid comments ("The reason Asylum figures have dropped, is because they are near enough all here in the UK").**
* By the way, there are some great comments on this article on-line, and not all your usual standard BNP-lite tripe (though there are a few of those). Its great when the Mail reader tries to engage their brains rather than their knees or spleen. Our two favourite short put-downs (for various reasons) are: "When I need advice from a Liberal, I'll ask, but don't hold your breath." & "There are lies, damned lies and statistics and your article contains lots of statistics." Outstanding.
Oh, and there's even an idiot who comes out with the line, "Just go to Migration Watch for the correct figures."
** A selection of two more favourite comments on the second article:
"what about our human rights?
what about the human rights of my diabled nephew and my sister who cannot be houses because of lack of housing caused by immigrants?
what about the human rights of british people to be proud of our nationality?
what about our human rights that we must allow everyone elses freedom of speech yet remain silent ourselves?
what about the human rights to display our religeon proudly yet be told we can't?
what about our future when there are not enough schools, hospitals, housing and prison places when were stretched to the limit already?
what about our budget deficit yet we pay for all these people who have no right to be here?
Britain has failed the British people."
&
"The hidden agenda is more scary than we think. They appear to be following the 1928 manifesto of The Frankfurt School. [Note: A sort of modern version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, except for communists rather than Jews]
1. The creation of racism offences.
2. Continual change to create confusion
3. The teaching of sex and homosexuality to children
4. The undermining of schools' and teachers' authority
5. Huge immigration to destroy identity.
6. The promotion of excessive drinking
7. Emptying of churches
8. An unreliable legal system with bias against victims of crime
9. Dependency on the state or state benefits
10. Control and dumbing down of media
11. Encouraging the breakdown of the family
The outrageous truth slips out: Labour cynically plotted to transform the entire make-up of Britain without telling us"
Indonesian Navy Fires On Migrants/Updates
A group of Afghan asylum seekers have alleged that the Indonesian coast guard fired on their boat, wounding two, when a second coast guard vessel tried to stop them after they had handed over a $US50,000 ($54,206) bribe to a previous coast guard vessel. The 61 Afghans and 5 Indonesian crew, thinking they were in International waters, refused to stop and the Indonesian boat opened fire. The skipper, Jimmi, was shot once in each arm and wounded in the chin. The Afghan asylum seeker, Mr Heider, 21, was shot in the left shoulder.
The Indonesian police version is different. They claim that they only shot the two people after refusing a 20 million rupiah ($2,290) bribe from the Afghans and they tried to "escape". The police gave chase in their Australian-supplied fast patrol boat. When, after an hour, the Indonesian drew close they claim they could see the Indonesian skipper was being beaten and held hostage by an Afghan man, who was forcing him to keep heading for Australian waters. After repeated calls to stop and warning shots, police apparently fired at the skipper and the man forcing him to pilot the boat to "disable them". The police also claim that the Afghans were threatening to throw all the crew overboard.
In other news, Indonesia appear to be using a carrot and stick approach with the Oceanic Viking Tamils. For those that remain on board the Customs vessel, the Indonesian authorities have promised those that leave the ship voluntarily will have their permits to remain, most of which have previously been extended twice before prior to their leaving Indonesian territory, extended for a third time.
At the same time however, they have said that the 22 already in detention in Tanjung Pinang, must be resettled within a month if they have already been recognised as refugees by the UNHCR, thereby putting pressure on the Australians to process their asylum applications even swifter than the very public promise they made the Tamils. Meanwhile, notes have been thrown into the sea from the Oceanic Viking claiming that some of the remaining 56 Tamils were still terrified of returning to detention in Indonesia.
This coming weekend also sees yet another crisis meeting between the Australian and Indonesian heads of government, this time in the wings of the APEC leaders' summit, to try and clear up who is responsible for what. With no resolution to the Oceanic Viking saga in sight, it should be a tense affair.
The Indonesians however appear to be taking a much stronger line with the Jaya Lestari 5 Tamils in Merak harbour. According to a senior Indonesian Foreign Ministry official. "If Australia doesn't want to accept them and they don't want to come off the boat, we will ask the IOM (International Organisation for Migration) to return them to their country." Of the 7 Tamils who have already left the boat during the past month it has been moored off the West Java coast, one has already been deported and the other 6 are awaiting decisions on their UNHCR refugee status. Alternatively, they could forcibly deport the Tamils that do not have UNHCR status using an Indonesian Navy vessel.
The 6 Sri Lankans men mentioned in the previous post as having been held in the 'red block' on Christmas Island have been deported back to Sri Lanka together with 30 others who asylum applications were turned down.
The Indonesian police version is different. They claim that they only shot the two people after refusing a 20 million rupiah ($2,290) bribe from the Afghans and they tried to "escape". The police gave chase in their Australian-supplied fast patrol boat. When, after an hour, the Indonesian drew close they claim they could see the Indonesian skipper was being beaten and held hostage by an Afghan man, who was forcing him to keep heading for Australian waters. After repeated calls to stop and warning shots, police apparently fired at the skipper and the man forcing him to pilot the boat to "disable them". The police also claim that the Afghans were threatening to throw all the crew overboard.
In other news, Indonesia appear to be using a carrot and stick approach with the Oceanic Viking Tamils. For those that remain on board the Customs vessel, the Indonesian authorities have promised those that leave the ship voluntarily will have their permits to remain, most of which have previously been extended twice before prior to their leaving Indonesian territory, extended for a third time.
At the same time however, they have said that the 22 already in detention in Tanjung Pinang, must be resettled within a month if they have already been recognised as refugees by the UNHCR, thereby putting pressure on the Australians to process their asylum applications even swifter than the very public promise they made the Tamils. Meanwhile, notes have been thrown into the sea from the Oceanic Viking claiming that some of the remaining 56 Tamils were still terrified of returning to detention in Indonesia.
This coming weekend also sees yet another crisis meeting between the Australian and Indonesian heads of government, this time in the wings of the APEC leaders' summit, to try and clear up who is responsible for what. With no resolution to the Oceanic Viking saga in sight, it should be a tense affair.
The Indonesians however appear to be taking a much stronger line with the Jaya Lestari 5 Tamils in Merak harbour. According to a senior Indonesian Foreign Ministry official. "If Australia doesn't want to accept them and they don't want to come off the boat, we will ask the IOM (International Organisation for Migration) to return them to their country." Of the 7 Tamils who have already left the boat during the past month it has been moored off the West Java coast, one has already been deported and the other 6 are awaiting decisions on their UNHCR refugee status. Alternatively, they could forcibly deport the Tamils that do not have UNHCR status using an Indonesian Navy vessel.
The 6 Sri Lankans men mentioned in the previous post as having been held in the 'red block' on Christmas Island have been deported back to Sri Lanka together with 30 others who asylum applications were turned down.
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