Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) (a) People smuggling networks are complex and operate in multiple countries across national boundaries, employing a range of facilitators, organisers and local contacts to seek out and recruit potential irregular immigrants (PIIs). The clandestine and often illegal nature of people smuggling makes a definitive list of countries and locales within countries difficult to provide, and such a list may in any case become out of date as demand from PIIs shifts to other locations or law enforcement activity prompts the smugglers to shift their operations elsewhere to escape scrutiny.

(b) In general terms, and noting the transnational nature of people smuggling, it can be said that people smugglers do market their services in key source countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka. They also operate in transit countries including Indonesia and Malaysia. Smugglers are opportunistic and responsive to supply and demand, even willing to work together under the right circumstances, making it difficult to fix a scale or location for any single smuggler's or network's operations.

(2) (a) No

(b) No