Indonesian authorities are struggling to break people smuggling networks despite an increase in the number of prosecutions, according to a new report.
A joint study by Melbourne Law School’s Antje Missbach and National University of Singapore’s Melissa Crouch found most prosecutions in Indonesia target low-level boat drivers and crew.
“Often they are unemployed, or they are from very poor backgrounds; they are manual workers, sometimes fishermen,” says Dr Missbach.
She says crew are often the most visible in people smuggling operations and, as a result, the most likely to be charged.
People smuggling kingpins take this into account when organising their crew, she says.
“They employ disposable workers at this end of the operation knowing that they might only use a driver once.”
The report studied a range of cases in Indonesian courts in the year-and-a-half after the government passed Law 6/2011 on Immigration, criminalising people smuggling.
It also found that while many cases do not go to court, those that do almost always result in a guilty verdict.
Additionally, judges often ignore the law’s five-year minimum sentence, creating uncertainty in its application.
Dr Missbach says the operational structures of people smugglers remain strong because judges treat crew and facilitators equally.
“The law does not differentiate between the roles people play within a smuggling network,” she says.
“Anyone with any involvement in people smuggling is legally accountable.”
Their report can be found here.
