Readings

Human Traffic

Sharing stories of people smuggling

Smuggled: an Illegal History of Journeys to Australia

By Ruth Balint and Julie Kalman, published by NewSouth Publishing, Sydney, 2021. Paperback, 204 pages, illustrations, index. ISBN 9781742236896 RRP $34.99

Vaughan Evans Library 364.1372 BAL

WHEN 16-YEAR-OLD CARINA HOANG was smuggled out of Vietnam in 1979, she steadfastly refused to say farewell to her mother. To do so would expose their relationship, and therefore their lie. Carina held fake documents to suggest that she was ethnically Chinese, and hence permitted to flee. But to enable this escape, her mother had to pointedly remain Vietnamese – and hence remain in Vietnam.

It was the only way in which she could organise an exit permit for VT075, a small vessel crammed with 370 refugees – including her daughter. Despite the repeated necessity for subterfuge, forgery and bribery, this entire process was in fact encouraged by the Communist regime which sought to purge the newly unified Vietnamese nation of its sizeable Chinese community. It took 15 years before mother and daughter were finally reunited. Such are the complexities of people smuggling – and the tortuous paths that have brought thousands to Australia, legally or otherwise. Presenting a series of vignettes dating from the 1940s to the 2010s, Smuggled confounds our stereotypes. Many of the chapters are written collaboratively with the individuals whose journeys to Australia circumvented formal pathways. Commencing with World War II, we learn of resistance fighters and Holocaust survivors who dodged execution by paying for illicit passages to safety. Many joined the ranks of Europe’s displaced persons, often caught up in early Cold War politics and seeking lifelines half a world away in Australia. László Ürge, for instance, defected from Hungary with his parents after the Soviet invasion of 1956. Near the border with Austria, they met with another family whose son, Gyula, led them to freedom – for a price. But he also kissed them goodbye and remained a lifelong hero to László – who went on to become Australia’s beloved soccer commentator, Les Murray. Four decades later, Nahar Sobbi escaped Iraqi captivity with her four children. They were among 15,000 members of the monotheistic Mendaean sect – pacifists who were persecuted by Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Presenting a series of vignettes dating from the 1940s to the 2010s, Smuggled confounds our stereotypes

Received from the Australian Customs Service, this battered lifebuoy was taken from a Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel. Its poor condition reflects the basic and often decrepit state of the boats engaged in people smuggling to Australia. ANMM Collection 00026053

In Dubai her husband Besam paid US$10,000 for a fake passport which allowed him to reach Australia. Upon arrival he claimed political asylum – just after Australian laws were changed in 1999 to disbar the previous family reunion scheme. Desperate to survive, and to reassemble their family, Nahar and her children made numerous attempts to join Besam. They paid several people-smuggling operations until, with 223 others, they boarded the tiny wooden boat Olong in Indonesia in October 2001. The Sobbi family sailed into Australian waters – and history – as asylum seekers aboard Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel (SIEV) IV. Intercepted by HMAS Adelaide, Nahar found herself in the midst of the infamous ‘children overboard’ incident.

Each of the tales in Smuggled is very human. Its stories share the escapees’ experiences while exploring their ambiguous relationships with the smugglers who aided their journeys. The authors leave no doubt where their sympathies lie, although at times it feels that they are glossing over the system’s obvious potential for extortion and exploitation. None of the chapters, for instance, concludes with denied entry, deportation or death. The book, nevertheless, is laden with pathos and perseverance. Not one of the protagonists’ journeys is easy, often involving years of planning, financial and psychological hardship, and permanent separation from loved ones. Within this protracted process, the role played by people smugglers is essential, yet often fleeting and forgettable. Smugglers are sometimes friends, family or fellow believers; other times they are chancers, criminals or mere opportunists. This work is unlikely to change black-and-white political viewpoints, but it humanises the grey spectrum in between. It certainly gives voice to those who arrived illicitly from over the seas, and fleetingly draws their accomplices out of the shadows.

Reviewer Dr Peter Hobbins is a historian who recently joined the museum as Head of Knowledge