THREE Indonesian families rescued in the Timor Sea and delivered to Immigration officials on Christmas Island yesterday have a rightful claim to asylum if their debts through illegal fishing have placed them in danger, human rights lawyer Julian Burnside QC said yesterday.Fishermen Sukardi Liri, Sadar and Sangaji Jawa, their wives and 10 children arrived at the tiny Australian territory of Christmas Island aboard HMAS Tobruk at 7am yesterday and were taken by barge to the jetty at Flying Fish Cove at 10.50am, where locals waved and called out the Indonesian greeting "salamat datang".
Strapped in navy-issue lifejackets and wearing navy hats, the children remained quiet until they reached a bus on dry land, when they began waving back to onlookers, including other children swimming near the jetty. They were taken to a construction workers' camp opposite the island's temporary detention centre. The baby and nine children were looked after in a creche set up for them while the six adults were interviewed by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship about their asylum claims. Relatives and neighbours from the group's village on the island of Roti, the centre of an illegal shark-fin trade from western Timor, delivered what seemed a fatal blow to any refugee claim last week when they revealed the families were seeking economic asylum because of Canberra's crackdown on illegal fishing. While Mr Burnside said there was no provision in the Australian Migration Act for "economic refugees", he said the group's debt to a fishing captain could form the basis of a successful asylum claim, if it could be shown that they were being threatened or in danger because of that debt or others.
The Australian government shifted its focus to repeat offenders in the illegal fishing industry partly due to evidence that poor Indonesian villagers were being recruited by organised crime gangs to crew fishing boats. "It's a sad fact that they don't come within the definition of refugee status if their claim is solely that they can't make a living, and that's why they're seeking our help," Mr Burnside said. "But if they are being threatened and their Government is unwilling or unable to help them, then that may well give a proper claim for asylum." The group was due to spend last night under guard in houses owned by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. This is because changes to the Migration Act two years ago made the detention of children an option of last resort - the families cannot be kept in either the island's temporary detention centre or the yet-to-open $396million Immigration Processing and Reception Centre built to replace it.
For the past six months, two Vietnamese brothers have been the island's only detainees. They live in the temporary detention centre and are allowed out for activities such as barbecues with guards, church on Sundays and Saturday-night movies. The Indonesian group's perilous journey to Australia is thought to have begun on November 17 when they left their village in a 10 m wooden motor vessel, which broke down in the Timor Sea. The boat was under makeshift sail about 650km west of Darwin when workers aboard the Jabiru Venture oil vessel noticed it last Tuesday morning. The group tied their boat, which was taking water, to the Jabiru and waited to be rescued. The Royal Australian Navy's initial attempt to pull alongside in choppy conditions tipped two navy officers and some of the Indonesian adults and children into the sea, creating panic.
Two of the group, including a child, were wearing paper masks yesterday because they were unwell and yet to be assessed by the island's doctor. "We are taking precautions, " a spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship said. Health checks of all 16 will be completed in coming days. In February, 83 Sri Lankans were rescued by the navy near Christmas Island and sought asylum on the island before being flown to detention in Nauru. In August, five Indonesians arrived by boat on Saibai Island in the Torres Strait. They had come from Papua New Guinea.
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