New illegal boat arrivals not linked to recent policy changes

The University of Queensland's Dr Andreas Schloenhardt doubts that the Government’s abolishment of the “Pacific Solution” is inviting migrant smugglers to bring asylum seekers to Australia.

Dr Schloenhardt, a senior lecturer at UQ's TC Beirne School of Law, said that despite Opposition claims, there is no link between the abolishment of off-shore detention and the seven boats with asylum seekers intercepted in Australian Waters since August this year.

“Policy changes in Australia are unlikely to be a factor in the thinking of migrant smugglers,” he said.

“The deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, instability in Pakistan, and the conflict between Tamils and government forces in Sri Lanka are more likely to be the contributing factors to the greater number of refugees in our region.”

Having observed the problem of migrant smuggling for many years, Dr Schloenhardt believes that migrant smugglers are following a pattern which can be observed as far back as the late 1970’s.

“Most major refugee flows are these days accompanied by a surge in migrant smuggling activities,” he said.

“Migrant smugglers take advantage of refugees in desperate situations, a pattern which can be observed since the time of the Vietnamese refugee exodus.”

Media: For more information and interviews contact Dr Andreas Schloenhardt (telephone 07 3365 6191 or 0438 303 442 or email a.schloenhardt@uq.edu.au)