The People Smuggler....Robin de Crespigny

Posted 
on Apr 01, 2014
 
 
 
Noel McInnes chaired the address by Robin de Crespigny.  She spoke on the background to her research and development and the story of her book (framed in the first person) being a biography of Ali Al Jenabi an Iraqi.  He reached Australia via the classic asylum seeking boat journey  from Indonesia some years ago, however he became tagged as a "people smuggler" by the Australian authorities and eventually extradited from Thailand and charged and tried for the people smuggling offense in Darwin.  Perceived by many as a "show trial" it  went for 18 months at a time when the Australian community's interest in people smuggling and all that it involved was intense.   In the course of that trial the presiding Supreme Court Judge described him as "The Oskar Schindler of Asia".   Why?   As Robin explained there were many extenuating circumstances and drivers to Ali's life journey.
 
Robin's background as a film maker,writer director and her thorough  journalistic approach comes through in her book and her address.  The extensive research which she conducted over several years into Ali Al Jenabi's story provided Robin with a strong factual background for her to relate the pressures which framed his courses of action, not always strictly compliant with the law.   When one heard of secret police, torture and executions as everyday options for Ali in Iraq and then faced with the rhetorical question posed by Robin to the audience" What would I do in a like case" there was a thoughtful and sober silence.
 
Robin's passion for the plight of refugees and asylum seekers was clear and her book as demonstrated by the extracts which we were fortunate to hear  provide a wonderful example of how putting a "human face" on an issue can promote people to more deeply consider it.  The audience was enthralled.  Robin explained that she may seek to write a screenplay and hence film the story but noted that such a task can take years to fruition.