Ozschwitz gulag: Innocent crewman charged with people 'smuggling'

AN INDONESIAN crewman on a boat that exploded and killed five asylum seekers last month has been charged with people smuggling.

The man, believed to be 19, is accused of attempting to smuggle 47 people into Australia illegally. He was charged with crimes against the Migration Act, not murder.

On April 15, a boat carrying 49 people, mostly Afghans, was intercepted off Australia's northern coast. The following day it caught fire, killing five passengers and severely burning many more.

While the cause of the blaze is still under investigation, at least two of the nine Australian defence personnel on the boat when it blew up are too traumatised to return to service.

Of the 44 asylum seekers who survived, three remain in hospital. The others are in various immigration facilities in Darwin, Brisbane and Perth.

Yesterday authorities asked for the suspected people smuggler to be moved to Darwin. He is due to appear before the Darwin Magistrates Court on Monday facing a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment or a $220,000 fine.

Meanwhile, a Senate committee has heard that Villawood detention centre's infamous maximum-security zone would be knocked down and rebuilt as part of a $186.3 million overhaul.

The "stage one" area has long been criticised by human rights advocates for its prison-like atmosphere, and on Thursday night the committee learnt five more detainees had harmed themselves this financial year.

"Under the new design … the existing stage one will disappear completely," the Immigration Department's deputy secretary, Bob Correll, said.

While the high-security component will be torn down and rebuilt in front of the current site in western Sydney, lower-grade areas will be built on existing infrastructure, the department's first assistant secretary for community and detention services, Jackie Wilson, said.

The library, kitchen and medical area will be built from scratch and old demountables replaced.

The Human Rights Commissioner, Graeme Innes, and Amnesty International welcomed the move. "The sooner it happens the better," Mr Innes said.

An overhaul of the centre has been on the agenda for more than a decade, with sites such as the Ingleburn army base in south-west Sydney considered.

Before the Sydney Olympics, the detention centre was even considered as an accommodation option for visiting officials and journalists, with detainees relocated.

Villawood's capacity will increase from 358 people to 400 as it becomes the country's "primary" high-security facility, the committee was told.

LNK

Ozschwitz gulag: Innocent crewman charged with people 'smuggling'

Ozschwitz gulag: Innocent crewman charged with people 'smuggling'

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