Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Australian authorities of directing a people-smuggling operation and paying human smugglers to turn back their boats.
The global human right organization, in its report "By Hook or By Crook," said Australian Border Force and Navy officials reportedly paid thousands of dollars to smugglers to turn back refugee boats. The group also said it had gathered evidences of illegal pushback by the Australian authorities.
Anna Shea, refugee researcher at the global rights body, said that Australia has for months denied that it paid for people smuggling but the report provides evidence pointing to a very different set of events.
"All of the available evidence points to Australian officials having committed a transnational crime by, in effect, directing a people-smuggling operation, paying a boat crew and then instructing them on exactly what to do and where to land in Indonesia," Shea said in a press statement.
"People-smuggling is a crime usually associated with private individuals, not governments - but here we have strong evidence that Australian officials are not just involved, but directing operation," she added.
Australia rejected the report as a "slur" and called it an "ideological attack," according to DW.
"People are opposed to [boat turnbacks], including Amnesty, and I respect that but I think this has just been an opportunity to launch an ideological attack and I think that's why it needs to be addressed because the government is not going to be bullied into changing our position," immigration minister Peter Dutton said on Friday, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
