CIGJ submission to Senate Committee Inquiry

Hilary Charlesworth, Jacinta Mulders and Emma Larking have written a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee Inquiry into allegations that an Australian official paid the crew of an Indonesian boat US$30,000 to return with the asylum-seekers to Indonesia.

Their submission considered the legality of the alleged payments under international law, arguing that any such payments would be inconsistent with Australia’s obligations under the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (2000), as well as under the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951).

The submission can be viewed here.