Exodus without end

By now, the European Union must be very worried that the deluge of boat people making it to Italy shows no sign of abating. In fact, the alarming and exponential acceleration in refugee numbers this year should ring alarm bells even in the minds of the most liberal and pro-immigrant left wingers in Europe. Leaving the humanitarian crisis aside for a moment, the flood of people poses a serious security risk; many of them come from countries that are flush with extremists. 

In just one 24 hour period last month, 3000 refugees reached Italy. So far this year, nearly 40,000 migrants have done so –the number for the whole of last year was 43,000.  Hundreds, if not thousands, have died making the crossing, usually heading usually for the island of Lampedusa or the coast of Sicily. Thousands more will cross over in summer, as the weather improves; around 300,000 wannabe migrants are said to be waiting in Libya, Tunisia and elsewhere- a future described by an observer as ‘an exodus without end’.

To add to the mess, Libya is acting tough and threatening to flood the Mediterranean with even more boat people. Says Interior minister Salah Mazek: "I'm warning the world and Europe in particular – if they do not assume their responsibilities, Libya could facilitate the transit of this flood." By responsibilities, he means, of course, money for Libya.

Although many of the refugees are Egyptians, Syrians and Eritreans, West Africans, Somalis, Afghani, Bangladeshi and Pakistani refugees- or economic migrants, hard to tell which is which- make up sizeable numbers. They set off in rickety boats, paying anywhere between 1500-2500 USD for the passage (the higher amount gets you space on deck and perhaps a tarpaulin, 1500 consigns you to the hold and certain death if the dilapidated boat goes down), buying lifejacket facilities for 200 USD a piece (no money, no lifejacket), besides food, water (100 USD) and satellite phone use (200 USD). Everything has a price.

The ruthless ‘people smugglers’ make up to a million Euros on each leaky boat they put out- crammed to the bulwarks with migrants- on conditions that have been compared to the 19^th century slave trade. And their margins are rising; for example, they are now saving on fuel, putting out boats with not enough fuel to make the crossing. Why? Because they expect the Italian navy to come and pick up the refugees. I doubt they care if those poor souls live or die anyway.

Europe has reason to be concerned. Some of these migrants- particularly asylum seekers- have, by now, spread out across countries like France and Germany, albeit in small numbers. The last three years may well have seen roughly a quarter of a million migrants pouring into Italy; it has to be assumed that a significant number of these will be released, after some kind of processing, into the EU. The pressures- economic, cultural and political- of this inundation will be severe. And the possibility that criminal gangs or terrorists will have used this human pipeline to infiltrate target societies is real. People coming from war torn countries pose particular problems, especially to countries like Germany that grant some refugee status.

Shipping has reason to be concerned too. Hundreds of human trafficking boats take to the water from the North African coast every year today. I am sure a bunch of guys is sitting in a cave somewhere trying to work out how easy it would be for a small boat laden with explosives to set out from the same shores- unregulated and chaotic as they are, thanks to the Arab Spring’s aftermath- and blow up a tanker or two in the confined Mediterranean. Repeat of the 2002-Limberg attack off Aden, you know.

There have been plots to do this before, including in the Straits of Gibraltar. And any sailor who has sailed in those waters will tell you how easy something like this would be and how easily maritime security can be compromised today in the Mediterranean because of the exodus without end. 

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Christmas Island- or death

With more than 300 boat people having died route to Australia this year alone, the refugee crisis there does not seem to show any sign of ending.  Thousands of refugees– mainly Afghans, Iranians and Sri Lankans- continue to pay up to US $ 5500 each for the perilous journey from the Indonesian island of Java to the nearby Christmas Island, the Australian outpost close to Indonesia where asylum seekers are detained and processed. Almost two thousand arrived in Australia in August, the highest monthly total on record. Almost ten thousand have arrived this year already, more than double the figures for the whole of last year. Hundreds die during the transit. Official figures say more than 600 have perished since 1999, but who knows for sure?

Outside Australia, the plight of these refugees has been largely ignored thus far. That is nothing unusual- the same attitude has forever been on display towards the thousands of seaborne refugees that cross waters across the world every year, whether in the Red or Mediterranean seas or Central America- and the same attitude was on display towards the original boat people- from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos-a few decades ago.  (Even as I write this, a stuffed illegal immigrant boat has sunk of  Turkey’s western Aegean, drowning at least 58; scores of others are missing).

There are the usual tales today of capsized or disabled boats, distress calls, people smugglers abandoning their cargoes at the first sign of trouble, rickety overcrowded boats and tens of men, women and children drowning when their boats literally fall apart. The shadowy kingpins behind this human smuggling racket include a Pakistani based in Indonesia; a regular ploy is to bring the boats close to Christmas island and send out a distress signal, sometimes even by mobile phone, and wait to be rescued. 

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority and their Indonesian counterparts-BASARNAS- have obliquely and not so obliquely blamed each other for either abandoning the refugees or promoting calculated delay in rescue with the intent to discourage the boat people. Meanwhile, boats are being intercepted by the Australian navy almost every day.

In Australia, there is political acrimony and a hardening of positions with respect to the boat people on one hand and consternation over the humanitarian crisis on the other. A decade old plan- the ‘Pacific Solution’ that calls for refugees to be sent to Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island for processing at detention centres- has been revived. Australian newspapers are meanwhile reporting the body count religiously, while the authorities are hoping that the recent spurt in the numbers of boats will reduce substantially because the refugees have been so far trying their best to make it to Australia before the ‘Pacific Solution’ was reimposed. Now, it has.

The story of the Wallenius Wilhelmsen owned car carrier Parsifal last month should have brought, especially to the shipping industry, the crisis in sharp focus. The Singapore registered ship, with a crew of just ten, picked up 67 asylum seekers off Java after a distress call. En route to Singapore, the Captain diverted the Parsifal to Christmas Island fearing for the safety of his outnumbered crew after what was reported as aggressive behaviour by the refugees who wanted to go to Christmas Island. As it turned out, a couple of the asylum seekers had threatened to harm themselves, not the crew, though obviously the situation could have escalated rapidly.

The Parsifal story mirrors tale of her sister ship Tampa, owned by the same Wallenius Wilhelmsen, that had precipitated  a political storm in Australia when she tried to take 438 Afghan boat people to Christmas Island way back in 2001. The then Australian Prime Minister Howard sent Australian Special Forces aboard to stop Captain Rinan from landing the refugees, who were sent to Nauru after the ‘Pacific Solution’ was hastily put together in four days. Howard said at the time, "We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come."

This is not the place to go into the pros and cons of Australian policy; I will only say that despite all the flutter, the numbers of these seaborne refugees heading for that nation of immigrants is small. They get disproportionate attention, though, thanks to their somewhat spectacular mode of attempted entry. They also expose themselves to criminal elements and crazy risk.

Masters of ships that sight boat people today are in a tighter spot than ever, for there is an additional security threat that these refugees potentially represent- one that was absent during the Vietnamese boat people days. Those of us who were sailing then remember the horror stories of Masters ignoring- illegally and inhumanely- overcrowded boats begging for rescue, or just food and water. We remember shore side managers asking us to avoid the area altogether if possible and ignore the boat people if not. We remember spineless Masters complying with this illegal directive. This time too, shipping has already begun to behave against the laws and traditions of the sea: a bunch of rescued refugees told Australian media last month that five ships passed them and their friends who were in the water for two days but refused to stop.

I will not defend such behaviour- there is no defence- although I am well aware of what promotes it. The fact that governments around the world routinely propagate policies that are dangerous both to the refugees and to the crews that choose to rescue them is no excuse for a Master to abandon drowning men, women and children at sea. The fact that shortmanned crews on cramped ships cannot easily accommodate- leave alone control- tens or hundreds of aggressive and desperate refugees is no excuse for manslaughter. The fact that the world does not re-examine is treatment of seaborne refugees and the cruel systems that govern this treatment is no grounds for cold-bloodedness.

Final idle thoughts: does shipping need armed guards to protect its crews from rescued refugees in ‘boat-people waters’? I am not advocating shooting boat people in the water, I hastily clarify, just wondering if armed guards will protect crews against aggression from survivors.

And, does the ISPS code- that has failed spectacularly to protect ships and crews from boat people, terrorists, pirates and robbers alike- need to be thrown in the bin at once?

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