http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22940655-2702,00.html
Detainees rejected but can't go home Stephen Fitzpatrick, Kupang, West Timor | December 18, 2007 SIXTEEN asylum-seekers deported to Indonesia after Australia denied their claim of economic hardship will avoid returning to Roti island, west of Timor, because they cannot pay crippling debts owed to illegal fishing bosses there. Instead, they will try to make a new life in southeast Sulawesi, hundreds of kilometres away. The three men and their families were plucked from their leaking boat in the Indonesian Ocean during the federal election campaign. Fellow villagers claimed the group had headed to Australia "to make a better life". Two of the men, Sangaji Jawa and Sukardi Liri, denied yesterday they had requested asylum after being rescued on November 20, saying they had been blown off course while heading for Merauke in Papua. However, the fact the trio had their wives and children with them when they were found west of Darwin made this highly unlikely, Australian National University anthropologist James Fox said. "It makes sense if you're trying to think of something to explain how you were found where you were, but it's absolutely not what they would have been doing - especially fishermen of their talent and experience," said Professor Fox, who has written extensively on the shark fin fishermen of Roti. A senior member of their community in Roti, Sadli Hudari Ardani, described as "lies" the men's claims they had not been seeking asylum in Australia, adding: "I think they're just trying to avoid shaming Indonesia, and themselves getting in trouble with the Government here." Mr Sukardi said yesterday it was "not possible" to return to Roti, the centre of the illegal shark fin trade in Australian waters, since there was "no hope of making a life there now". He said the men could not pay hundreds of dollars in debts they had accrued to illegal fishing bosses. And the fact he had lost his fishing boat during the ill-fated trip to Australia only increased his debt problem. "We don't work like office workers," Mr Sukardi told The Australian by telephone from Jakarta, where the group's status was being assessed by Indonesian officials after their return on Saturday afternoon from immigration detention on Christmas Island. "We don't stay in one place - we travel around, all across Indonesia." Senior Indonesian Foreign Ministry official Teguh Wardoyo confirmed that the group would resettle far from Roti. "Every day (when they lived in Roti), if they had a good day's fishing, they would be forced to pay off their debt. Even the trip to Australia was forced on them in an attempt to pay what they owed," Mr Wardoyo said. Mr Wardoyo was critical of the Howard government, saying it had tried to use the incident to its own advantage during the election campaign. "There were those in Australia who used this to their own political purposes," he said. The group was to be returned last night to the tiny island of Mola, off the coast of southeastern Sulawesi. All three families have connections there. Both Mr Sukardi and Mr Jawa said yesterday they remained hopeful of eventually paying off their debts in Roti. They said they were treated "well" during their three weeks on Christmas Island, and were given clothing, shoes and food. As the group left Christmas Island, four people rescued after their boat began sinking near the Ashmore Islands were being taken to the island for initial interviews and health checks. The new group will stay on Christmas Island until each member is assessed by the Immigration Department. Additional reporting: AAP
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