China`s authorities has stepped up its efforts to crack down on drug crime in China and Australia. (photo by Australian News Network)
According to the latest figures from Australia`s Foreign Affairs and Trade Department (DFAT), the number of Australians arrested for drug-related drugs in China topped the list of 19 in the fiscal year 2017-18, up 58 percent on a year-on-year basis. Last fiscal year, 50 Australians served their sentences in China, making China the country with the largest number of Australians in jail, mainly because of drug and fraud.
In Japan, 19 Australians were arrested for drugs, up 171 percent over the same period, the Australian Union reported. For the first time, Japan has become one of the top five foreign countries with the arrest and the largest number of detainees in Australia, which the Foreign Ministry said was largely due to strict Japanese law enforcement and the growing preference of Australians for vacations in Japan.
According to the Foreign Ministry`s (State of Play) report, 1671 Australians died last fiscal year. Just last month, 33-year-old Newcastle (Newcastle) man Davis (Michael Geoffrey Davis) died in an accidental climb near Mount Everest in Nepal. Other high-profile incidents include the death of 20-year-old model McNamara (Sinead McNamara) on the yacht of a Greek billionaire. Mina (Gabrielle Maina), who lives in Amidale (Armidale), was shot dead last October while walking near her residence in Nairobi, Kenya`s capital.
The largest number of Australians have died in Thailand and the Philippines, which the Foreign Ministry believes is linked to a growing number of Australian elders coming to these countries and settling in live a retired life.
More than 1540 Australians were arrested or detained overseas last fiscal year, with the largest number of government insurgents in the United States, Thailand and China.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handled more than 380 cases of imprisonment in Australia last fiscal year, with the largest numbers in China, the United States and Vietnam.
But fewer Australians turned to government overseas for help compared to the previous year. Diplomatic minister Payne (Marise Payne) says this shows a stronger sense of protection for Australians when they go abroad.
But Payne also said in a statement that the government is not omnipotent and that "Australians should be as prepared and self-reliant as possible when traveling overseas."
"if you can`t afford travel insurance, don`t travel."
A survey of Australians traveling to Southeast Asia this year found that 1/10 of them did not have travel insurance, and most of them were young men under the age of 30.
Australian people get government Aid in FY18 FY 2017 / 18
In FY17 / 18, more than 10.7 million people travelled to Australia, up 13 percent from five years ago.
Australia`s main destination abroad
1. New Zealand
2. Indonesia
3. America
11880 requests for assistance
1. Thailand 967 (8%)
2. 750 cases in the United States (- 12%)
3. 610 cases in Indonesia (- 15%)
1671 people have been killed in their homelands.
Main causes: disease, natural causes, accidents
1. 238 Thailand (17%)
2. 153 Philippines (21%)
3. Indonesia 117 (9%)
1540 people in trouble (- 6%)
Criminal cases first, followed by visa issues
1. 241 United States (- 15 per cent)
2. 122 persons in Thailand (22 per cent)
3. China 113 (12%)
Drug arrest
1. China 19 (58%)
2. Japan 19 (171%)
3. Thailand 16 (23%)
386 prisoners (4%)
Main cause: fraud, drug
1. 50 Chinese (mainly because of drug and fraud)
2. 45 Americans (nearly half sexual crime)
3. 40 people in Viet Nam (almost all related to drug)
509 unheard (- 27%)
1. Thailand 63 (- 15%)
2. 33 in the United States (- 46%)
3. Philippines 28 (4%)
Welfare rights and interests
3062 cases related to well-being and interests, including mental health, illness, need to appear in court, etc. (a reduction of 29% over 5 years)
1. 274 cases in Thailand (11%)
2. 250 cases in the Philippines (17%)
3. 194 Indonesia (- 17%)
