‘I gave up everything for promise of a job in Australia’

One of the 28 asylum-seekers sent back to Indonesia at the weekend said he was told there were many jobs in Australia, convincing him to sell everything he had to pay for the sea journey.

A speedboat that asylum-seekers claim they were given by Australian authorities in order to send them back to Indonesia.

One of the 28 asylum-seekers sent back to Indonesia at the weekend said he was told there were many jobs in Australia, convincing him to sell everything he had to pay for the sea journey.

Bangladeshi man Muhammad Ma’ruf said he sold his land and house amounting to 40,000 ­Malaysian ringgit ($12,718) to chase his dream of working in Australia.

However, instead of finding work, the 28-year-old man drifted for days at sea, was captured in a wooden boat near Christmas ­Island by Australian authorities, and then expelled to Indonesia.

Mr Ma’ruf has since been ­detained by Sukabumi Police in West Java.

“Someone told us there were many jobs (in Australia), either on farms or in kitchens. Then we were introduced to an agent. This agent asked us to come to Indonesia to prepare for the trip to Australia,” the Malay-speaking Bangladeshi said.

Mr Ma’ruf was promised that he would get a job upon arrival in Australia, but he was not given any information on who would pick him up or wait for him there.

He claimed he had no idea that he might be a victim of human trafficking when he came from Malaysia, where he had lived for eight years, to Indonesia and then via the Indonesian sea route to Australia through the Cilacap Fisheries Port in Central Java.

“I didn’t know it was illegal; all my documents were on the boat that was sunk by the Australian authorities,” he said.

“When we reached Australia, there were no job promises, no one was already working, no one was waiting there. We just landed and were abandoned.

“All my money is gone, I sold my house, sold my land, 40,000 ringgit, all gone.

“Nothing left, and now I’m just waiting to see how I can get back to Bangladesh after being in Indonesia.

“Eight years in Malaysia, hoping to find a decent job in Australia. But fate has brought me here.”

Indonesian boat mechanics said they were promised 300 million rupiah ($27,500) for transporting 28 asylum-seekers to Australia before they were intercepted by Australian authorities off the, and later given a new boat to return to Indonesia.

Upon landing back in West Java’s southern coast on Saturday, the crew, Muhammad Agus and Dahlan, were arrested, while the 28 foreign nationals, 23 from Bangladesh, four from China, and one from India were detained at an immigration detention centre.

Last month, the two of them were working at Cilacap when they were told that there was a job to transport people to Australia.

“Initially, my supervisor, also a boat mechanic, whispered to me, asking if I wanted money. I asked what the job was, and he said it was to transport people to Australia,” Agus said on Sunday.

“They said it was just to drop them off at Australia. There were already places on the beaches in Australia. Once we got there, we just had to leave.

“When (the foreigners) arrived by bus at the port, they immediately boarded the boat in the middle of the night and headed to Australia.”

After a five-day sea journey, they arrived in the waters of Christmas Island, where they were intercepted by Australian patrol officers. They were transferred to an Australian patrol boat, after which their wooden boat and its equipment were sunk.

“We got caught by the patrol, flanked by two boats, and directed to a large ship. For 11 days, they took turns interrogating us. The boat we brought from Cilacap was destroyed and sunk,” Agus said.

“After that, we were told to get back on the speedboat and return to Indonesia.”