21 Nov 2016

People smuggling to Australia dormant - IOM

From , 6:04 am on 21 November 2016

The International Organisation for Migration in Indonesia says the people smuggling operations that took asylum seekers by boat to Australia are dormant.

More than 50,000 people have been smuggled into Australia since 2008.

About 14,000 asylum seekers are currently in Indonesia, many of whom have given up on trying to reach Australia by sea.

An IOM project manager in Jakarta, Paul Dillon, told Ben Robinson Drawbridge the largest group of migrants he monitors is from Afghanistan.

Australian navy personnel transfer Afghanistan asylum-seekers to a Indonesian rescue boat near Panaitan island, West Java on August 31, 2012 after the refugee's boat sunk.

Australian navy personnel transfer Afghanistan asylum-seekers to a Indonesian rescue boat near Panaitan island, West Java on August 31, 2012 after the refugee's boat sunk. Photo: AFP