Australia blamed for illegal migrants<\/p>\n
Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Bowing to diplomatic pressure, Indonesia is helping prevent
\nillegal migrants from coming to Australia and in doing so is
\nhelping the latter avoid its international obligation to
\naccepting refugees, an Australian expert on migration said.<\/p>\n
\"Australia is more to blame for the current situation than
\nIndonesia,\" Stephen Castles, the director of the Refugees Studies
\nCentre at the University of Oxford in Britain, said recently.<\/p>\n
The influx of refugees passing through Indonesian waters on
\ntheir way to Australia has often been a thorn in the relationship
\nbetween the two countries.<\/p>\n
Australia's strict stance denying refugees entry at a time
\nwhen Indonesia's Navy is ill equipped to guard its waters has
\nsparked a number of diplomatic scuffles.<\/p>\n
In 2001, tension escalated as both countries refused to accept
\nsome 500 refugees on board a Norwegian tanker, which had rescued
\nthe refugees from a sinking boat.<\/p>\n
A few months later, over 350 illegal migrants died in the Java
\nSea when their overloaded boat sank on its way to Australia.<\/p>\n
Most of the refugees had either come from Afghanistan or Iraq,
\nand had paid huge sums of money to people smugglers who promised
\nto deliver them to Australia or New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Australia lashed out at Indonesia for allowing refugee-loaded
\nvessels to pass through its waters and allowing people smugglers
\nto operate in its territory.<\/p>\n
\"The real problem is that Australia is not meeting its
\ninternational obligation,\" said Castles, referring to the United
\nNations convention on refugees.<\/p>\n
\"So that one can see that even a country that has signed the
\nrefugee convention; that has in the past been very willing to
\ntake refugees; is not doing so,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Under the UN convention, he said, refugees from a country like
\nAfghanistan can arrive in Australia and ask for asylum status if
\nthey are facing persecution at home.<\/p>\n
The government must then follow up on these claims while
\nallowing the refugees to stay in the country during the legal
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
\"So what Australia is doing is not to allow people to enter
\nAustralia so they can't make that claim. It (Australia) really
\nhas an international obligation to allow those people to make a
\nclaim, and it's not doing it,\" Castles said.<\/p>\n
Australia's calls on Indonesia to help stem the flow of
\nmigrants to its shores has led Jakarta to step up pressure on
\npeople smugglers here, even though it does not recognize them as
\ncriminals in the absence of a people smuggling law.<\/p>\n
Castles said that Indonesia and Australia could cooperate to
\nhave the legal process for the refugees take place in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"But the issue really is that the refugees should have
\nadequate protection. If it can be done in Indonesia that's fine,
\nbut of course Indonesia is not a rich country and it has a lot of
\nproblems in responding to those needs, whereas Australia could
\neasily manage a large number of refugees,\" Castles said.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a seminar on global migration issues at the
\nIndonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the expert said the
\nimmigration issue was also of political significance to the
\nAustralian government.<\/p>\n
Critics have said that Australian Prime Minister John Howard
\nused the refugee standoff on board the Norwegian tanker to
\nbolster his position at home ahead of his end-of-year election,
\nwhich were just three months away at the time.<\/p>\n
Australia's handling of the standoff drew fire from UN Human
\nRights Commissioner Mary Robinson, who said the country should
\nhonor its international obligations.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australia-blamed-for-illegal-migrants-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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