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