On the beautiful, scalloped coast of southern Java, a battle is raging between determined people-smugglers and a poorly-resourced local police force. It seems the people-smugglers are mostly winning and the police are frustrated.The beaches of the huge bay of Pelabuhan Ratu are almost directly north of Christmas Island and a popular departure point for asylum-seeker boats attempting the sometimes hazardous journey. But the water police of Pelabuhan Ratu district only have two boats to patrol 117 kilometres of coastline. One has a 400 horsepower engine, and one is very small, with a 40 horsepower engine. The police only have the funds to pay for 800 litres of fuel a month – enough for two hours’ patrol per week – say, one trip to the borders of the district and back.
Captain Amran Kusnander, the Water Police chief in Pelabuhan Ratu, said he couldn’t estimate how many successful asylum-seeker boat departures there had been, nor whether the numbers were increasing. “We are the closest to Christmas Island,” he said. “This is a transit area; we don’t know exactly the numbers, but we know this area is very important.”
Before boarding the smaller of the two police boats at his disposal, Captain Kusnander simply shrugged when asked how much more equipment he needed. He explained that when Australian officials visited, they were shown the extent and size of the police facilities. But it seems that even if Canberra had provided funds directly to Jakarta to improve and update equipment in Pelabuhan Ratu, those funds have yet to filter down to the ground level.
Philemon Ginting, the deputy police chief at Sukabumi police station in the town of Pelabuhan Ratu, said the lack of funds constrained police efficiency. “We don’t really have the budget to increase the patrols,” he said. “Before, there was help from the Australian government and IOM, but it should really be government-to-government, so we had to give it back. We have to follow the rules.”
So police rely heavily on information from the local populace, Major Ginting said. “Information from the population is very important; they let us know when they see immigrants from the middle East.”
On Tuesday, he added, a local resident told police about seven Sri Lankans who had come down to the coast. The Sri Lankans, who were quickly rounded up, explained they had asylum-seeker identity cards from the UNHCR, but they weren’t trying to get to Christmas Island, they were simply enjoying a seaside holiday. They were handed over to immigration authorities.
Police have made a number of apprehensions in recent months, Major Ginting said. Eighty-seven fleeing asylum-seekers were captured in March, 67 in June and eight, so far, in July.
In the small hours of the morning one day last week, a truck arrived in the peaceful coastal hamlet of Pasir Baru, west of Pelabuhan Ratu town, and deposited 70 or more asylum-seekers on the beach. Men and women, it seems mostly from the Middle East, waited to be ferried by dinghy to a big boat waiting offshore. Only four or five could fit in the dinghy at one time, so it was a lengthy procedure.
The police arrived by road some time later, but they only managed to detain 11 asylum-seekers who were still on the beach. The rest were gone – already on board the larger boat destined for Australia. The officers were so upset they began slapping the villagers and telling them they were stupid, remembers fishing chief Ujuh, who like many Indonesians only has one name. “The police, they were angry,” he said, looking out at the rolling breakers of the blue Pacific. “They said ‘why are you so stupid to let them go’?”
An IOM project, once funded by the Australian government, fostered an understanding of the problems of people-smuggling amongst the local people of Pelabuhan Ratu and encouraged them to take action. Until recently, it wasn’t widely realised that people-smuggling could be considered a crime and Indonesians often sympathised with the plight of those fleeing war zones. Unfortunately the budget for the IOM program has not been renewed, let alone extended for an Indonesia-wide effort.
Commissioner Fatma Noer, the chief of the West Java police people-smuggling taskforce, told The Australian the numbers of interceptions of fleeing asylum-seekers had been increasing across the province. “This year, many cases have been intercepted on the southern coast. We’ve captured suspects,” she said, adding at least 600 asylum-seekers attempting to make the journey over the sea had been detained since last November. It seems there is a real determination in Jakarta to tackle the problem but Indonesia is one of the most corrupt nations in the world and good intentions are often thwarted by greed.
Certainly the leaders of both countries agreed this week to work on the problem of people-smuggling. A joint communiqué released by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Julia Gillard reaffirmed the importance of battling people-smuggling. “Australia and Indonesia will build on recent successes such as the Bali Process workshop that examined practical measures to combat trafficking in persons,” the communiqué said. “Australia and Indonesia will continue to counter people smuggling and trafficking in persons through the Bali Process in collaboration with other regional partners.” Whether the sentiments will make much difference in the straggling coastal villages of Pelabuhan Ratu remains to be seen.
Iwan, a fisherman whose boat the Cempaka Jaya 4 is moored in the Pelabuhan Ratu town harbour, said he tried to help the police as much as possible. “Christmas is very close,” he explained. “Even small boats can go to Christmas if there’s enough money. You just go through the waves.” A small boat like his, which could carry 20 or 30 asylum-seekers, would cost about 80 million rupiah to purchase, or about $8,000, he said. But he had never heard of asylum-seekers trying to purchase a boat and make their own way to Christmas island, and boat brokers would be wary of trouble resulting from such a sale. It seems that boats are brought in from all over Java for the one-way trip to Christmas Island, where people-smugglers know they will be destroyed by Australian authorities.
Iwan, who has no family name and earns a living fishing for tuna and barracuda, said he has seen asylum-seekers in the district three times in the past year. Once, he said, he chased some asylum-seekers and gave the information to the police. “But I don’t get any money for it,” he said. “It’s just work for society.”
The beaches of the huge bay of Pelabuhan Ratu are almost directly north of Christmas Island and a popular departure point for asylum-seeker boats attempting the sometimes hazardous journey. But the water police of Pelabuhan Ratu district only have two boats to patrol 117 kilometres of coastline. One has a 400 horsepower engine, and one is very small, with a 40 horsepower engine. The police only have the funds to pay for 800 litres of fuel a month – enough for two hours’ patrol per week – say, one trip to the borders of the district and back.
Captain Amran Kusnander, the Water Police chief in Pelabuhan Ratu, said he couldn’t estimate how many successful asylum-seeker boat departures there had been, nor whether the numbers were increasing. “We are the closest to Christmas Island,” he said. “This is a transit area; we don’t know exactly the numbers, but we know this area is very important.”
Before boarding the smaller of the two police boats at his disposal, Captain Kusnander simply shrugged when asked how much more equipment he needed. He explained that when Australian officials visited, they were shown the extent and size of the police facilities. But it seems that even if Canberra had provided funds directly to Jakarta to improve and update equipment in Pelabuhan Ratu, those funds have yet to filter down to the ground level.
Philemon Ginting, the deputy police chief at Sukabumi police station in the town of Pelabuhan Ratu, said the lack of funds constrained police efficiency. “We don’t really have the budget to increase the patrols,” he said. “Before, there was help from the Australian government and IOM, but it should really be government-to-government, so we had to give it back. We have to follow the rules.”
So police rely heavily on information from the local populace, Major Ginting said. “Information from the population is very important; they let us know when they see immigrants from the middle East.”
On Tuesday, he added, a local resident told police about seven Sri Lankans who had come down to the coast. The Sri Lankans, who were quickly rounded up, explained they had asylum-seeker identity cards from the UNHCR, but they weren’t trying to get to Christmas Island, they were simply enjoying a seaside holiday. They were handed over to immigration authorities.
Police have made a number of apprehensions in recent months, Major Ginting said. Eighty-seven fleeing asylum-seekers were captured in March, 67 in June and eight, so far, in July.
In the small hours of the morning one day last week, a truck arrived in the peaceful coastal hamlet of Pasir Baru, west of Pelabuhan Ratu town, and deposited 70 or more asylum-seekers on the beach. Men and women, it seems mostly from the Middle East, waited to be ferried by dinghy to a big boat waiting offshore. Only four or five could fit in the dinghy at one time, so it was a lengthy procedure.
The police arrived by road some time later, but they only managed to detain 11 asylum-seekers who were still on the beach. The rest were gone – already on board the larger boat destined for Australia. The officers were so upset they began slapping the villagers and telling them they were stupid, remembers fishing chief Ujuh, who like many Indonesians only has one name. “The police, they were angry,” he said, looking out at the rolling breakers of the blue Pacific. “They said ‘why are you so stupid to let them go’?”
An IOM project, once funded by the Australian government, fostered an understanding of the problems of people-smuggling amongst the local people of Pelabuhan Ratu and encouraged them to take action. Until recently, it wasn’t widely realised that people-smuggling could be considered a crime and Indonesians often sympathised with the plight of those fleeing war zones. Unfortunately the budget for the IOM program has not been renewed, let alone extended for an Indonesia-wide effort.
Commissioner Fatma Noer, the chief of the West Java police people-smuggling taskforce, told The Australian the numbers of interceptions of fleeing asylum-seekers had been increasing across the province. “This year, many cases have been intercepted on the southern coast. We’ve captured suspects,” she said, adding at least 600 asylum-seekers attempting to make the journey over the sea had been detained since last November. It seems there is a real determination in Jakarta to tackle the problem but Indonesia is one of the most corrupt nations in the world and good intentions are often thwarted by greed.
Certainly the leaders of both countries agreed this week to work on the problem of people-smuggling. A joint communiqué released by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Julia Gillard reaffirmed the importance of battling people-smuggling. “Australia and Indonesia will build on recent successes such as the Bali Process workshop that examined practical measures to combat trafficking in persons,” the communiqué said. “Australia and Indonesia will continue to counter people smuggling and trafficking in persons through the Bali Process in collaboration with other regional partners.” Whether the sentiments will make much difference in the straggling coastal villages of Pelabuhan Ratu remains to be seen.
Iwan, a fisherman whose boat the Cempaka Jaya 4 is moored in the Pelabuhan Ratu town harbour, said he tried to help the police as much as possible. “Christmas is very close,” he explained. “Even small boats can go to Christmas if there’s enough money. You just go through the waves.” A small boat like his, which could carry 20 or 30 asylum-seekers, would cost about 80 million rupiah to purchase, or about $8,000, he said. But he had never heard of asylum-seekers trying to purchase a boat and make their own way to Christmas island, and boat brokers would be wary of trouble resulting from such a sale. It seems that boats are brought in from all over Java for the one-way trip to Christmas Island, where people-smugglers know they will be destroyed by Australian authorities.
Iwan, who has no family name and earns a living fishing for tuna and barracuda, said he has seen asylum-seekers in the district three times in the past year. Once, he said, he chased some asylum-seekers and gave the information to the police. “But I don’t get any money for it,” he said. “It’s just work for society.”