Major General Andrew Bottrell will appear before Senate inquiry into alleged government payment of $32,000 to crew of asylum seeker boat in May 2015

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The operational commander of Australian Border Force will face questions from the Senate on Friday on whether the Australian government paid Indonesian people smugglers more than $30,000 to turn their boat around.

Major General Andrew Bottrell, the ABF’s operational head, and the secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Michael Pezzullo, are slated to appear before a Senate inquiry into the alleged payments to people smugglers.

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Mystery still surrounds the alleged payment of $32,000 to the crew of an asylum seeker boat reportedly bound for New Zealand in May 2015.



A boat carrying 65 asylum seekers from Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka, and crewed by six Indonesians, was intercepted by Australian customs and navy vessels in international waters on May 17 and then May 22.

The boat was taken to waters off the coast of the Australian Ashmore Reef. There, the asylum seekers were transferred to two smaller boats and escorted back to Indonesian waters. One of the boats later crashed on a reef near Rote Island.

The six crew members, who are facing charges in Indonesia for people smuggling, have stated that an Australian official paid them, in US dollars, between $5,000 and $6,000 each to return with the asylum seekers to Indonesia.

This was corroborated by statements from the asylum seekers, who are in detention in Indonesia, and Indonesian police.

While media reports and an Amnesty International investigation have presented significant evidence that the payment took place – including independent corroboration from crew members and asylum seekers, photographic evidence of the money, and police testimony – the Australian government has refused to confirm or deny what took place at sea, citing secrecy over “on-water matters”.



Senate committees have considerable powers to compel officials to attend inquiry hearings and to answer questions.

There are, however, caveats for public interest immunity where information might damage Australia’s national security, defence or international relations.

Legal opinion submitted to the Senate inquiry says that Australian government officials paying alleged people smugglers to turn their boats around in the middle of the ocean may constitute a serious breach of international law, and could expose government agents to prosecution in foreign courts.



It has been widely reported – though unproven – that the payment was made by an officer of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. Asis officers may be exempt from prosecution for making the payment under an immunity in the Intelligence Services Act 2001.



However, that immunity does not extend to Indonesian law, nor does it offer exemption to Australia’s obligations under international treaties on migrant smuggling.

Professor of international law at the University of Sydney Ben Saul wrote in a submission to the Senate: “Australia has no international legal right to unilaterally engage in people smuggling against other countries in order to prevent people smuggling into Australia – just as Australia would have no right to pay terrorists to attack Indonesia instead of Australia.”



Saul said Australia’s actions appeared counterproductive to its stated aims of stopping irregular migration and preventing deaths at sea.



“At a policy level, the alleged conduct encourages more smuggling – and deaths at sea – by ‘putting the sugar back on the table’; shifts the burden on to other countries; irresponsibly combats smuggling to Australia by committing the crime of smuggling to Indonesia; and further victimises the victims of smugglers.

“There is also a broader policy question whether it is appropriate at all for Asis to be directed by governments to divert its limited resources from genuine national security threats (such as protecting Australians from terrorism) to focus on the lesser, criminal problem of smuggling.”

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The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has consistently maintained all elements of Operation Sovereign Borders were “conducted consistent with Australian domestic law and Australia’s obligations under international law”.

In a submission to the Senate inquiry Major General Bottrell said the asylum seeker vessel had been observed “in poor weather conditions, which were rapidly deteriorating”.

“The master of the vessel indicated they were experiencing difficulty and requested assistance. Border Protection Command assets rendered immediate assistance in accordance with our international safety at [sic] life at sea obligations and assisted the safe return of the people to Indonesia,” Bottrell wrote.

“I believe our actions to assist this vessel were necessary to preserve the safety of life of those on board. The officers on board the Border Protection Command vessels operated in dangerous sea conditions to render assistance to the distressed vessel.”

Those who were on board dispute this. Crew and asylum seekers told investigators the ship was well-equipped and that no distress signal was sent at any time. The crew said the boat never entered Australian waters and had enough food and fuel on board to reach New Zealand.

The Indonesian government has said it believes Australia paid the ship’s crew. “We asked for clarification and for further information on this issue,” a foreign ministry spokesman, Arrmanatha Nasir, said last year. “We did not receive this, so in that context we cannot be blamed for believing that there was an illicit payment.”

Amnesty International’s refugee coordinator for Australia, Graham Thom, will appear before the Senate inquiry on Friday morning.



“The evidence Australian officials paid off the boat crew in May 2015 is very strong, and so far the government has deliberately avoided refuting this evidence,” he said before his appearance. “Such payments from Australian officials would amount to a transnational crime. This is not a claim Amnesty International makes lightly”.

“We have also amassed a significant amount of witness testimony pointing to a systematic disregard for the wellbeing of people on board vessels pushed back by Australian officials, from allegations of physical violence to the denial of medicines and medical care, to endangering people’s lives by forcing them on to crowded vessels with inadequate fuel”.