Book Review: The criminalisation of people smuggling in Indonesia and Australia: asylum out of reach

The criminalisation of people smuggling is the first comprehensive analysis of the smuggling of transit migrants from Indonesia to Australia and shows how this activity influences the relationship of the two countries. Those who follow Antje Missbach’s works will be familiar with her previous book Troubled Transit (2015), which analysed the conditions of asylum seekers and refugees “stuck” in transit in Indonesia. The reviewed book shifts the focus from “recipients” of smuggling services to the “facilitators” of such services. The main question is the following: “Who are the people who organise and facilitate unsanctioned maritime passages from Indonesia?” (p. 22). In answering that question, Missbach details the roles of multiple actors who facilitate the “unsanctioned journey” across the sea of asylum seekers and refugees from Indonesia to Australia; she also discusses the development of anti-smuggling strategies in the two countries as well as the enforcement and consequences for facilitators and migrants, who are seeking asylum. Written in a readable narrative style supported by rich empirical data, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the complex nature of refugee issues in both countries. The book starts with a vignette about Abraham Louhenapessy or Captain Bram, an Indonesian boat captain, who repeatedly facilitated human smuggling. Chapter 1 discusses how anti-human smuggling strategies are debated in terms of effectiveness and moral standing. It shows why the facilitation of unsanctioned maritime journeys continues even though some perpetrators have been convicted (as in the case of Captain Bram). The main findings of the book are presented in Chapters 3 and 4; Chapter 3 reveals in detail the characteristics of smuggling networks in Indonesia, paying particular attention to the actors and their different roles (organiser, middlemen, informer and operational staff). Chapter 4 discusses the criminalisation of people smuggling in Indonesian law as well as the punishment of offenders, based on 143 court decisions, interview data