East Timorese in Australia still welcomed here: Alatas<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said
\nyesterday that the door is open to the 700 East Timorese in
\nAustralia if they want to return after having their request for
\npolitical asylum rejected.<\/p>\n
\"They are all Indonesian citizens anyhow,\" Alatas told
\njournalists after accompanying UN Secretary Boutros-Boutros Ghali
\naround Merdeka Palace.<\/p>\n
Alatas said the government needs to know why the East Timorese
\napplied for asylum. \"I think they over-stayed their visa and it's
\njust an immigration problem,\" he added.<\/p>\n
About 700 East Timorese reportedly arrived at different parts
\nof Australia over the past several months and requested political
\nasylum.<\/p>\n
But the Australian Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs
\nSenator Nick Bolkus said in Jakarta this week that the East
\nTimorese were turned down because their reasons were
\nunacceptable.<\/p>\n
Top Indonesian military officials have hinted that Indonesia
\nshould not allow the youths to return on the grounds that the
\nasylum seekers have betrayed their country.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Adang Ruchiatna, chief of the Udayana military
\ncommand overseeing security in East Timor, suggested that the
\nEast Timorese try their luck in Portugal.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the Indonesian ministry of foreign affairs issued
\na statement saying the asylum seekers have \"betrayed the trust of
\ntwo countries.\"<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia, which never put any political pressure on them in
\nany way, let them go as tourists and Australia has received them
\nas tourists,\" the statement read.<\/p>\n
Alatas said that the ministry is awaiting a complete report
\nfrom the Indonesian embassy in Canberra on the asylum bid,
\nincluding the exact number of the East Timorese.<\/p>\n
\"The Australian government's rejection of their asylum status
\nis correct because they are not eligible,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Immigration authorities in Bali, where most of the East
\nTimorese departed from, have said that an estimated 98 percent of
\nthe 700 asylum seekers' passports were issued by the immigration
\noffice in Dili, the capital of East Timor.<\/p>\n
Chief of the Bali immigration office H.B. Lapian said that
\nbetween August and December last year, an average of 200 East
\nTimorese obtained passports every month.<\/p>\n
The Australian ministry for immigration and ethnic affairs has
\nannounced it will tighten the immigration procedures for East
\nTimorese.<\/p>\n
The ministry, as quoted by the Australian embassy in a press
\nstatement, said that East Timorese arriving in Australia will now
\nhave to specify the purpose of their visit. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-timorese-in-australia-still-welcomed-here-alatas-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}