Australia lures more RI students

Australia lures more RI students

JAKARTA: Australia opened here on Saturday a two-day education
exhibition involving 72 Australian schools, universities and
education bodies.

Ambassador Richard Smith said the exhibition was aimed at
luring more Indonesians to study in Australia.

He said Indonesians formed one of the largest groups of Asian
students in Australia with a total of 18,000 students.

Ministry of National Education's Higher Research Director Dodi
Nandika said before opening the exhibition that Indonesia and
Australia had agreed to boost education cooperation.

"The exhibition reflected the increased educational ties which
had already been running well for the past 20 years," Dodi said.
-- Antara

20 RI maids seek protection

SINGAPORE: At least 20 Indonesian maids are currently seeking
sanctuary at the Indonesian embassy in Singapore after their
Singaporean employees either beat them or raped them.

"Of the 20 maids seeking refuge at the Indonesian embassy, two
were raped by their employees," said Hussien Abu, labor official
at the Indonesian embassy in Singapore.

He said Singaporean authorities were now investigating the
alleged rapes.

Meanwhile, third secretary Kartika Prawati Rum Surjani told
Antara on Saturday that at least 65 Indonesian maids died between
January 1999 and April 2002. Some of them fell from their
apartments or committed suicide.

There are currently 450,000 foreign workers in Singapore, of
which 60,000 are Indonesian maids who get paid between S$230 and
$600 per month. -- Antara

SwPD moves to expand cooperation

DENPASAR, Bali: Members of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue
(SwPD) agreed on Saturday to boost and expand cooperation and
exchange information during its first senior official meeting.

Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda said member countries
agreed to focus on cooperation in the field of economics, trade,
investment, and technical assistance.

"These have been the subjects of discourse among members of
the Southwest Pacific Dialogue in the past two years, and now we
are now realizing them as Indonesian has been focusing on Asia in
the past 30 years," Hassan was quoted by Antara as saying.

The SwPD, established in 2000, has members consisting of
Indonesia, Philippines, East Timor, Australia, New Zealand, and
Papua New Guinea.

According to Hassan, the Bali meeting played a strategic role
in the development and future of countries in the Southwest
Pacific as "it defines future steps taken to boost interactions
and cooperation among countries in the region". -- Antara