DIMA Annual Report 1996-97

Sub-program 8.3: Boats

Objective

To prevent the entry into the Australian community of unauthorised boat arrivals and remove those who do not engage Australia's refugee or humanitarian protection.

Description

This sub-program is responsible for the administration and coordination of reception, on-arrival processing and the removal from Australia of persons arriving, without authorisation, on boats.

Policy development and program support is provided by the Compliance and Enforcement Branch. On-arrival processing is undertaken by teams of departmental officers mobilised from offices across Australia.

Financial and staffing resources summary

	1996-97 Budget and AEs $'000s	1996-97 Actual $'000s	1995-96 Actual $'000s
Budgetary (cash) basis
Components of appropriations
Annual appropriations
Running costs	17 890	17 112	25 303
Other program costs	7 649	7 979	5 484
Total appropriations	25 539	25 091	30 786
Less adjustments	-	-	-
Total outlays	25 539	25 091	30 786
Total revenue	-	-	-
Staffing
Staff years (actual)	23	16	23

Performance information

Outcomes are measured against the:

1. promptness and efficiency with which reception and processing of unauthorised boat arrivals occurs;
2. timely removal of those unauthorised boat arrivals who do not raise claims which, prima facie, may engage Australia's protection obligations; and
3. reduction in the number of boats carrying persons who have no authority to enter Australia.

Performance outcomes

(i) Reception and processing

Since 1989, 69 boats have arrived in Australia. Of these, 36 originated from the People's Republic of China (PRC). More recently, however, both the source and composition of unauthorised boat arrivals has changed.

Of the 13 boats that arrived in 1996-97, three were from the PRC and eight were from Indonesia. The boats originating from Indonesia carried 76 people from the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Sub-continent.

The points of arrival for those boats were:

• Darwin — 114 people on two boats;
• Ashmore Reef — 63 people on six boats;
• Torres Strait — 164 people on three boats;
• Christmas Island — nine people on one boat; and
• Coral Bay — 15 people on one boat.

For 10 of these boats, Australian authorities had early warning of their arrival. Arrangements were made to escort the boats into port and for on-arrival reception. The boat people were taken into Immigration detention on arrival (see sub-program 8.2).

Regardless of whether prior warning of the boat's arrival was received, task forces were available to commence entry processing immediately after the arrival of the detainees, at the detention facility.

The time taken for entry processing varied with the number of people on each boat but, on average, it was maintained at three days.

(ii) Timely removal

Those boat people who did not make any claims which, prima facie, may have engaged Australia's protection obligations were kept in Immigration detention pending their removal to their countries of origin, as required under the Migration Act1958.

The constraints on the timeliness of removal referred to under sub-program 8.2 apply particularly to unauthorised boat arrivals.

Notwithstanding this, of the 365 people who arrived without authorisation on boats, 144 people, some 39 per cent, were removed, of which 122 were removed within three weeks of arrival.

For those persons removed, the average length of time between arrival and removal was 17 days, the same as for 1995-96.

Australia and the PRC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in January 1995, concerning the return of Sino-Vietnamese refugees who had previously been re-settled in the PRC.

Under the terms of the MOU, Sino-Vietnamese refugees who have been permanently settled in the PRC, and who arrive in Australia by unauthorised boat, are returned to the PRC, after their identity has been verified. The MOU remains in force.

Some 45 Sino-Vietnamese who had been previously re-settled in the PRC were returned to the PRC under the MOU.

The majority of the people who arrived without authorisation on boats were nationals of the PRC.

Most of these people did not raise claims which, prima facie, may have engaged Australia's protection obligations. It was therefore possible to return them to China in a relatively short period of time.

As at 30 June 1997, 201 people who arrived by boat without authorisation during 1996-97 were in immigration detention, compared with 242 as at 30 June 1996.

(iii) Reduction in boat numbers

Thirteen boats carrying a total of 365 people arrived in Australia without authorisation, compared to 14 boats carrying 589 unauthorised arrivals in 1995-96.

Since the signing of the MOU concerning the return of Sino-Vietnamese, the number of their arrivals without authorisation by boat has fallen from 845 in 1994-95 to none in 1996-97.

There are ongoing exchanges of information with officials from the PRC and Indonesia concerning the activities of people who may be arranging illegal travel to Australia.

These exchanges can result in boats being prevented from departing for Australia or, where they have already left, in early warning of their arrival which enables appropriate reception arrangements to be put in place.

Information collected on those organising unauthorised boats is passed to relevant authorities in their countries of origin to assist with possible prosecution of organisers.

The Department is an active participant in international forums examining the problems of people trafficking and irregular people movements, with a view to engendering regional cooperation and solutions on these issues.

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