Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, upon notice, on 9 July 2012.

(1) Do people smugglers offering conveyance to Australia market their services in source countries and countries other than Indonesia; if so, can a list be provided of:

(a) those countries; and(b) the locales within those countries where such marketing operations take place, together with an indication of the scale of those operations.

(2) Does the department have a number or estimate for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 financial years of the number of Irregular Maritime Arrivals [IMAs] arriving via Indonesia who:

(a) make contact or contract with people smuggling operations prior to arriving in Indonesia; and

(b) have a 30 day visa from Indonesia.

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to 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definitive list of countries and locales within countries difficult to provide, and such a list may in any case become out of date as demand from PIIs shifts to other locations or law enforcement activity prompts the smugglers to shift their operations elsewhere to escape scrutiny.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