Indonesian laywer, Lisa Hiariej
In late December 2011, I visited some very young men held (in fact they were minors) detained at Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney and to be arrested on the charge of people- smuggling. Their stories provide a brief background of how and why they were crewing boats which ended up in Australian waters.
All of them had bee lured to crew boats for what to them appeared big money. All of them come from very poor, quite desperate living conditions, and the money to be earned was to help their families in day-to-day living, schooling and medical expenses – just to survive.
They all have very close family ties and were distraught in being incarcerated in in a gaol in a foreign country and indeed in an adult prison when in fact they are children. They had little or no English and no one spoke their language well enough and therefore they could not communicate their thoughts and fears. In some cases they did not know the names of the lawyers allocated to them. None of them knew where the boats were really headed and in any case many believed when they reached Christmas Island they were still in Indonesia. On average at 15 years old, they were mere children who had led very sheltered lives. They agreed to crew boats because they only wanted to help their families and this was an amazing opportunity.
Some of the boys cried when speaking to me: they were so sad to be in gaol and in detention and felt utter relief to be able to unburden themselves by speaking to someone who could understand their language
When arrested over a year ago, Sakit was barely 15 years old and was a recent arrival to the Detention Centre when I visited him. He had spent one month on Christmas Island, 5 months at Darwin and 8 months in Silverwater Prison and one week at Villawood Detention Centre before finally heading back to his village in Indonesia. He had been promised 17 million Rupiah ($ A 2000) but the “boss” had run away without paying him any money. Although inmates earn a little while in gaol it has to be spent on shop, washing, cooking equipment, TV privileges, phone cards and so on.
He worked from Monday to Friday, 6 hours per day from 8am till 2pm. He earned $30 per week, which is the equivalent to $1 per hour. He worked as a janitor/cleaner (wiping tables, serving food and cleaning). People in gaol liked him because he was the younger and smaller. He had lived for a long time with his grandmother.
When he returned to Indonesia, his brother told him that his grandmother was very ill because she thought her grandson had died at sea while fishing. He could not visit his grandmother because he had no money after leaving gaol.
Another young man in Villawood was Lukas who was 18 years old when apprehended. In gaol if a person is sick they have to request an appointment with the doctor. They must fill in a form and it takes 1 to 2 weeks to see the doctor. The lad could not speak English so could he not fill in the form. In frustration because he could not be understood, he hit the officer and was put in a ‘’cage’’ where he could not see day or night for 3 days. Although what he did was wrong, this was a frightening experience for him – all alone in a foreign country and no one to understand him. The lawyer who had been allocated to him could not speak Indonesian.
I felt sympathetic towards him when he told me of his loneliness, as there was no one to comfort or understand him. He was working in gaol folding clothes and replacing the foam from headsets and then inserting them into plastic bags. The guards in gaol liked him because he was a hard worker, helping to pick up the dirty plates from the gaol people and taking them to the kitchen. Sometimes the guards gave him $A 5 tips for his hard work.
He had been promised good money to crew a boat escorting tourists from Surabaya to Bali. Because his father is blind and his mother is almost blind due to cataracts, he jumped at the chance to help them have operations. Medical attention is exceptionally expensive in Indonesia. He has since been deported back to Indonesia but of course he did not receive the money so desperately needed.
Another 15 and half years old when apprehended was Tompel. He lived with his uncle and he has a sister and brother to look after. He is an orphan, because his parents passed away when he was little. He studied till year 8 and he quit high school in year 9 because he had to help his brother to look after the family. One day as he was about to go fishing, someone came and asked him whether he would like a different job. He was told if he could bring wood from Kupang to Mataram, Lombok he would be paid $A60. He took the job but, of course, he has received no money. He went on the boat, fell asleep one day and woke up surrounded by many people. He asked about the wood and was told not to worry but to look out for a colourful flag with many stars. He was to stop there and everyone would get off the boat.
However, the Australian Navy met them. He was in Silverwater Prison for just over 7 months, having been on Christmas Island and Darwin. He did not know the name of his lawyer and he was crying because no one seemed to be able to help him, including the Indonesian counsel in Sydney. He said that Silverwater Prison was horrible because he was locked up from 3pm till 8am the next day. He worked from Monday till Friday from 8am till 2pm.
He received $A42 per week. He underwent a wrist-bone x- ray and the result assessed him at 20 years of age but he was 16 years old. The x-ray is always wrong because they x-ray him several times and also another minor in the same room with him.
Another youth was Kawan who was born in October 1994; he would have been 16 when arrested. He had been in Australia for one year 4 months - in gaol and Detention Centre. When he was in gaol he didn’t understand what was going on until he was allocated an interpreter who was from an Indonesia background. His parents are very ill and poor which is why he took the job but he never got any money.
He cried every day and he didn’t know why he was there. He was going mental so they moved him from Silverwater Prison to Long Bay Prison. Long Bay Prison is for people who are sick. A doctor visited him 3 times per week, but it didn’t help him. He said he didn’t want to stay anymore. If he did he would commit suicide.
He didn’t have any job in gaol but he got $A15 from the government allowance allocated to prisoners per week. He used this money to buy his food and phone card, which wasn’t enough.
I found all of these cases desperately sad and one can only have the deepest sympathy for the plight of fellow human beings who are lured into crewing boats for simple purposes, such as fishing or carrying wood, only to find themselves incarcerated in a foreign country and no- one to understand their explanations of why they were there. All of those I visited have since been deported back to Indonesia but they have then faced additional hardship. Their time in Australian gaols and Detention has cost them any employment they had had before leaving their villages on the false promises of remuneration.
Why does the Australian government put minors (children) accused of people smuggling in tight security adult gaols? When my friend visited one of the minors in Silverwater Prison he told me that the boy was too scared to say anything because of the tight security conditions. He was scared if guard heard any conversation that it could lead to a longer prison stay and that he may never go back to his village to see his family, especially his parents. They are not criminals and they are under age but the government put them with the convicted criminals in maximum security prisons. My friend even could not bring food or drink to him because of tight security.
During 2011, one Australian 14 year old boy was caught with drugs in Bali but the Indonesian government didn’t put him in tight security. The Australian government should have done the same as the Indonesian government and respected the rights of the children. Should the Australian fourteen year old been treated like the Indonesian children have in Australia? The Australian boy’s parents could visit him many times and bring lovely food to him. He even was even offered fried rice where he was kept, but he liked to eat Kentucky fried chicken. His father was able to buy and bring things to him and even his father could sleep with him. Why can’t the Australian government do the same things like Indonesian government because they under the age? The 14 -years old boy is very lucky to be free when you consider the penalty for possession and trafficking of drugs in Indonesia. The drug penalty in Indonesia is the death penalty or imprisonment for life.
The Indonesian children are locked in their rooms from 3pm till 8am the next day but the Australian boy in Bali was not. He was indeed culpable of criminal activity who used the drug but the Indonesian children have been manipulated by the organizers of boats carrying Asylum Seekers or their middle persons.
This is the real story from the Indonesian children caught up in boat people sagas.
*Not the real name
Lisa Hiariej is an Indonesian and Australian lawyer.
Email: lisa.hiariej@rocketmail
Mob: +62 8787 386 3320 (Indonesia)
Mob: +61 420 410 418 ( Australia)