Jakarta Globe – AFP, Dec 03, 2014
Sydney. Serving and former Australian navy personnel have described the trauma of stopping asylum seeker boats and pulling dead bodies from the water as the government ramps up its deterrence policy on migrants arriving by sea.
In this photograph taken on Feb. 8, 2014 an empty Australian lifeboat that carried asylum seekers turned back by Australian navy is docked at Pangandaran wharf in West Java. (AFP Photo/Timur Matahari) |
Sydney. Serving and former Australian navy personnel have described the trauma of stopping asylum seeker boats and pulling dead bodies from the water as the government ramps up its deterrence policy on migrants arriving by sea.
The sailors,
some of whom have been discharged suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), told ABC television on Tuesday their health conditions were not treated
seriously by commanders.
The men and
women said the distress they suffered during the naval operations, which took
place when the Labor party was in power from late 2006 to September 2013, was
exacerbated by secrecy surrounding the country’s border protection policies.
A serving
navy officer, who was given the name “Michael” to protect his identity, told
ABC how his ship was delayed by 15 hours from boarding an asylum-seeker boat,
only to find out that it had sunk 13 hours earlier.
“All we
found was probably a line about 70 miles long of bodies,” he told the national
broadcaster. “We fished them out for as long as we could, ’til we were full.
And that wasn’t uncommon.”
Their
insights came as Immigration Minister Scott Morrison sought to gain support
Wednesday from the Senate for a bill widening the government’s maritime powers.
The bill
reflects the hardening attitudes Australian governments have taken against
asylum seekers attempting to enter the country by boat.
Only one
boat has reached the Australian mainland since December, compared to almost
daily arrivals previously under the Labor administration, when hundreds of
people died en route.
Troy
Norris, a sailor recently discharged for PTSD, spent 13 years intercepting and
boarding asylum seeker boats and said his commanding officer “showed no
compassion at all for my situation” when reading his termination letter.
“And that’s
the kind a treatment I received. Getting rushed through because we were a
liability.”
In a
statement Wednesday, Australia’s chief of navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett
acknowledged the “arduous” nature of border protection work and said a tailored
mental health support program had been set up for those involved.
“This
program includes regular screening and follow-up mental health support where
required,” Barrett said. “I believe it is a first-class system that is part of
a broader approach to mental health across the Australian Defense Force.”
As part of
the current conservative government’s tough policies, several asylum seeker
boats approaching Australian waters have been turned back in a move it said
would stop people from dying at sea while undertaking the treacherous journey.
The most
recent case involved a people-smuggling boat carrying 38 Sri Lankans that was
stopped northwest of the Cocos Islands two weeks ago as it made its way to
Australia.
Agence France-Presse
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