AN alleged people-smuggling kingpin awaiting extradition from Indonesia says Australia could stop the boats if it employed tactics used during John Howard's time as prime minister.
Indonesian authorities have confirmed Sayed Abbas is set to face an extradition hearing next month after Australian officials handed over the necessary paperwork late last week.
Abbas is suspected of being one of the most active people-smugglers to operate out of Indonesia in recent years and is believed to have remained in business even while he was incarcerated in Salemba prison in Jakarta.
A source close to Abbas' operation has told AAP that he has effectively become a brand and that asylum-seekers wanting to take boats to Australia contact agents who still work for him.
It is believed his syndicate has pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars by sending dozens of asylum-seeker boats to Christmas Island, including one that sank in December 2011, killing up to 200 people.
Abbas denies all the charges against him, claiming he is the victim of mistaken identity.
But during a lengthy interview at police headquarters in Jakarta, where he has been moved to pending his extradition, he revealed a deep understanding of the people-smuggling business in Indonesia.
He also offered some advice to Australian authorities.
"The Australian government can stop (the boats) like before when John Howard was there," he told AAP.
"If they were more serious, they could stop. It's very easy."
He said turning boats around worked.
Abbas arrived in Indonesia from Afghanistan in 2001 and made three failed attempts to make it to Australia by boat.
It was towards the end of that year, he said, that many of the people-smugglers operating in Indonesia shut up shop.
"Maybe Australia, with such strong power can stop it like John Howard did. Like in 2001, just shut the channel.
"Not like now when Kevin Rudd opened it again," he said.
"Before, all boats travelling there, after they left then they were stopped, told to go back again.
"When people in Indonesia found out about this, many illegal tracks were shut.
"Then in 2008, it was opened again."
The reality is the Howard government only successfully turned back four boats to Indonesia in 2001.
Seven other attempts were abandoned because of riots, fires or threats of violence towards Royal Australian Navy personnel, including one involving the vessel in the "children overboard" controversy.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's plan to "tow back" asylum-seeker boats to Indonesia is also clearly disliked by the government in Jakarta.
Australia has been seeking to extradite Abbas, an ethnic Hazara, since 2009.
A senior Indonesian official confirmed final documents that will pave the way for Abbas to face justice in Australia had been received last Friday.
"Now we're waiting for the police to hand over the document to us so that we can process it immediately. It should be completed in April," he said.
A spokesperson for the Australian Attorney-General's Department refused to comment on the timeline for Abbas' expected extradition.
"These matters now rest with Indonesian authorities and it would not be appropriate to comment further," the spokesperson told AAP
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/three-asylum-seekers-treated-in-perth-hospital-after-capsize/story-fn9hm1gu-1226606848463
