Hello Mr Rudd
I have just finished reading Robin de Crespigny’s biography
of Ali Al Janabi called The People Smuggler, and I am wondering if you have had the
time to read it. It is a very moving
account of a man who spent years trying to escape from Iraq after his Father
was imprisoned in Abu Ghraib prison and sent mad by the torture of it. He and three siblings also spent time in that
prison and one was killed in prison.
He eventually escaped to Malaysia/Indonesia and after being totally ripped off by a so-called people-smuggler he was left with no option to have a go working for someone to earn the money to try again to come to Australia. He was appalled by the cheating, lying and callous disregard of people’s welfare by the operators he saw, and decided he could not do that to his fellow Iraqi’s so he decided to have a go doing it fairly. He decided he shouldn’t charge more than $1000 a person and children should be free. Very often he let people travel for less or free on the strength of a promise to get the money to him when they got to Australia.
All this he did, to earn enough margin to bring his mother
and siblings to Australia. He wasn’t a
gangster, ripping people off. While he
had no legal rights to be in Indonesia, the business he carried out in helping
to transport refugees to Australia was not breaking any Indonesian law and
legal and military people had ample opportunity to take him into custody if
they had wanted to.
Then a crooked man, who did sent people to sea in
unseaworthy boats, most notably the SIEVX, took advantage of a contact with the
AFP to trap Ali after Ali had sent his final boatload of people to Australia –
he was no longer involved. This crooked
man ensured that Ali’s trip to Bangkok would result in the AFP being able to
arrest and extradite him to Australia to stand trial for people smuggling. In return for his evidence that crook got immunity
from prosecution, permanent residency and a $250,000 gift from the Government,
while Ali was again and again denied his human rights by Department of
Immigration officials and the Minister for Immigration even after a Judge
described him as the Schindler of Asia because of his compassion and
determination to do all he could to save lives.
I would like to ask you how Ali qualifies for your description
as being one of the “scum of the earth”.
I know that was a throw-away line and I hope that in some small respect
you have come to regret it since you have had more time to think about your contribution
to political life.
I would also like to know how we can make laws in Australia
that make a lawful activity in a country over which we have no jurisdiction
criminal. In our country the rule of law
means that if something is made illegal or criminal, and a person is charged in
relation to such activities they may have committed years before it became a
criminal act, then they are not guilty of criminal behaviour because when they
did it , it wasn’t a criminal offence.
What Ali did was not criminal in Indonesia. What gives us the right to bring him here and
then convict him of criminal activity? Everything in me says this is an awful
injustice we have perpetrated.
While he was preparing an appeal to the Federal Court, Ali’s
lawyer said to him rather matter-of-factly that he was not a People Smuggler. Smuggling people is about getting people into
a country without the authorities knowing.
Boat people are tagged by Australian surveillance almost as soon as they
leave port, they are intercepted and taken into immigration reception and their
claims processed. His lawyer said he wasn’t
involved in people trafficking because trafficking involved kidnapping
people. All he was doing was engaging in
a lawful business to raise money to bring his family to Australia. When that was achieved, he topped doing it
and was about to come here himself.
Every single person Ali shipped to Australia survived and
was successful in making a refugee claim. All the members of his family have
made successful claims and have permanent residency in Australia. Ali has made a successful claim to be a
refugee which the Department refused to act on until the Minister was force to
act. Residency was denied on the Character
Test grounds. And now minister after
minister had denied any request for review.
Ali was given a Pending Removal Bridging Visa – he can work but he can’t
get work, and he has this axe hanging over his head off arbitrary removal,
should the government deem it safe to return him to Iraq, where he would most
certainly face persecution again.
I suppose you know all this.
When you set out on your Kevin 07 Election campaign you
wanted us to see you as a decent Aussie bloke, and I firmly believe you
are. I supported you and your side of
politics. I am convinced that your faith
profoundly informs your politics and for that you had a softer edge on many of
your policies, that I supported.
I suppose this issue has tied us all up in knots because it
has become a political football, rather than an issue that our nation has
sensed a call to respond to with compassion –after all, our participation in
the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan made a very significant contribution to
the refugee outflows from those countries.
Too much is at stake, I suppose, for you to respond to this
with a heart, but I ask you to read Ali’s story, in his own voice. Let his voice challenge you about the
possibility that this period of Australia’s history on this policy matter will
one day cause us great shame.
I remain yours truly,
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