JAKARTA
An Indonesian police chief has said that Australian officials paid thousands of dollars to the captain and crew of a boat carrying migrants from Southeast Asia to persuade them to return to Indonesia.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Wednesday that the boat -- containing 65 Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans and Rohingya Muslims, all of whom were seeking asylum in New Zealand -- was intercepted by Australian navy and customs officials in late May.
The six crew said they had been given $5000 each by the Australian officials, according to the Indonesian police chief of the island of Rote, where the boat was returned.
Migrants added that the crew were also supplied with two new boats to transport them back to Indonesian waters.
"We were given money [by Australia], but only the crew of the boats received it," Kayuran -- a Sri Lankan -- told Kompas.com from a hotel in Kupang city in Rote in the Timor Sea where the migrants have since been detained.
He said that the six crew got money, two new vessels, food, and fuel, but by the time they reached the island, both boats had ran out of gasoline and they were all left stranded.
Fellow passenger Bangladeshi Nazmul Hassan confirmed Kayuran's testimony, saying all of the migrants were interrogated by the Australian navy before being sent back to Indonesian waters.
"We were finally stranded on the Landuti Island after being expelled... Luckily, the Indonesian fishermen were willing to help us by giving us food and clothing," he added.
The Herald reported Police chief Hidayat -- many Indonesians use only one name -- as saying that the boat's captain had told him they had been given the money by an Australian customs officer called Agus, who spoke fluent Indonesian.
"I saw the money, the $5000 was in $100 banknotes," he said. The crew had $30,000 in total, which was wrapped in six black plastic bags.
According to police, the crew will now be charged with people smuggling and could receive sentences between 5-15 years in prison.
Meanwhile, the migrants will be questioned and handed over to the immigration agency, which will process them for repatriation or seek a third country willing to accept them.
On being asked if they had paid the ship's captain and crew to turn back, an Australian Immigration Department spokesman said it "does not comment on or disclose operational details where this would prejudice the outcome of current or future operations", according to The Herald.
