Indonesians are seeking safe haven in Perth

Indonesians are seeking safe haven in Perth

By Dewi Anggraeni

MELBOURNE (JP): With a three-and-half-hour flight southeast
from Jakarta, the city of Perth in Western Australia has always
been a popular destination for Indonesian tourists. Who could
resist a hop to the Western world, an almost complete change of
environment, without breaking your wallet?

During the past few months, however, the stream of visitors
from Indonesia has somewhat dried up as those who would otherwise
have come have found that their rupiah has shrunk for anything
beyond the essentials. Yet according to The Jakarta Post's
sources in Perth, several flights from Jakarta have been fully
booked.

Are the visitors coming back? Has Indonesia's economy
recovered and the currency rebounded to its original level?

Alas, things are not that bright. Those who have booked the
flights, it appears, are Indonesians of Chinese descent, who have
been feeling increasingly unwelcome in their own homeland.
Business migration applications to the Australian Embassy in
Jakarta have increased dramatically, to about 140 in December,
compared to 40 in the previous months. Australia is seen as a
friendly country which might receive them with some warmth.

However, hopes and reality do not necessarily correlate in
life. While a number of these people may qualify to migrate to
this land, a bigger number might just fall through the cracks.
The most likely stumbling block for them is Australia's
immigration laws. Those wanting to come to live in this country
will need more than a visitor's visa.

Basically, there are two major classes of visa: those that
need sponsors and those that do not. Each has numerous subclasses
with specific requirements. All of these, barring a request for
political asylum, will have to be applied for in the country of
origin.

An Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New
Zealand citizen can sponsor a spouse, a child (natural or
adopted), a parent, a preferred relative, a fiancee or other
dependents. So those with family ties have more chances of being
accepted.

If the sponsor is not an immediate family member, the
applicant can still benefit from the sponsorship provided he is
less than 65 years of age or she is less than 60 and has skills
needed in Australia.

An Australian prospective employer can also sponsor a
nominated employee of less than 45 years of age with knowledge of
vocational English, and skills needed in a particular field.

An independent applicant without a sponsor will have to prove
that he has a distinguished talent in his own profession and pass
the points test for skills, age and English language ability. He
also needs an approved nomination from an Australian state or
territory government.

An independent applicant may also qualify for the Business
Skills class, provided he can prove that he has a successful
business record as a business owner or part-owner, or in some
cases as a senior executive employee. He also needs to show
intention to be actively involved in managing a business in
Australia as an owner or part-owner. This class has subclasses,
covering requirements for business owners, senior executives,
state or territory sponsored business owners, state or territory
senior executives, and owners or part-owners of investments or
businesses. The minimum investments for this class, depending on
the subclass, range from US$52,000 to $1.4 million.

The immediate picture that appears from this brushstroke
description of the legal requirements to migrate to Australia is
that only those who have made preparations for some time will
have the chance to start their lives here in the immediate
future. Visitors who are coming to assess the scene may have a
long way to go yet.

Perth, with a population of 1.2 million, has been chosen by
most, probably because of its proximity to Indonesia and its mild
subtropical weather. While some of these people may have bought
properties in this city, first time visitors who are seriously
considering living in Perth, thus thinking of buying a
residential home, have to be aware of Australia's Foreign
Investment Policy. Only those who can prove residency of a
minimum of 12 months will normally have their applications
approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), with the
condition that when they no longer need the house, they should
sell it to a citizen or a permanent resident. Thus, students,
foreign executives and other business related people are covered.

Approval may also be given to applicants who want to buy
residential real estate, including vacant building allotments,
for development, provided continuous construction is to commence
within 12 months, and once completed, the completion date and
actual expenditure have to be clearly stated. They may also
receive approvals to buy an apartment, a townhouse or other types
of residential unit in a new development, either under
construction or newly completed, provided these have not been
previously occupied or sold.

In brief, unless a nonresident buys a new house, she/he will
face problems having his/her application approved.

The only exception to these tight regulations is to buy
properties within an area designated by the government as an
Integrated Tourism Resort (ITR), such as the Gold Coast in
southeast Queensland, where the operators have to report annually
to the FIRB, giving all their business details. People who buy
properties in such areas usually do so for pure investments, not
to live in them.

At present, of the approximately 6,000 Indonesians living in
Perth, half are students in secondary and tertiary institutions.

"A fair number of them are having difficulty continuing their
studies because their parents can no longer fork out the amounts
needed for their living expenses and tuition fees," said a
minister of a church with Indonesian in his congregation.

"The consulate and the Association of Indonesian Community
have been lobbying the universities so they are given special
discounts or allowed to pay in several installments," added the
minister, who has lost some 20 percent of his Indonesian
congregation during this crisis.

There are 12 churches serving approximately 1,500 Indonesian
in Perth, and the ministers are aware that more will be coming
following the civil unrests in Indonesia.

Another minister told the Post that many Australian members of
the church who have business connections with Indonesia are very
sympathetic towards the families who suffer as the consequence of
the series of unrests. "They are doing their best to assist
them," he said.

In the meantime, as could be expected, there are also
Australians whose sole concern is that there might be a "flood of
refugees" from Indonesia in the near future. "These large numbers
of workers laid off en masse, where would they turn to?" they
ask.

It is not an idle worry, it seems. During an interview with
Kerry O'Brien, presenter of ABC's 7.30 Report on Feb. 20,
Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Wiryono Sastrohandoyo agreed
that one of the ways Australia could assist was by accepting
migrant workers from Indonesia.

At a media conference on Feb. 23 in Perth, questioned on the
issue by journalists, Australian Federal Minister for Immigration
Philip Ruddock replied that it was unlikely that Australia would
consider that option. Asked what Australia would do if there were
to be political asylum seekers from Indonesia, the minister
answered that they would be treated the same way as those from
other countries.

These worries might well draw laughter from policy-makers in
Indonesia, but for the people driven by fear of further
persecution and Australians, especially residents of Perth, they
are no laughing matter.