Refugees stance does not hamper ties with Jakarta, Canberra says

Refugees stance does not hamper ties with Jakarta, Canberra says

Peter O'Connor, Associated Press, Canberra

The Australian government claimed on Friday it was making progress with Indonesia in agreements to stop people smuggling, despite reports the issue had led to a breakdown in cooperation.

And in a sign that Prime Minister John Howard's new hardline stance against asylum seekers was working, a shipload of refugees agreed to turn back to Indonesia after being boarded by navy personnel off northern Australia.

A report in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, quoting leaked cables from Australia's Ambassadors in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, said Indonesian and Malaysian authorities had been increasingly unwilling to help stem people smuggling after a controversial change in Australia's refugee policy.

But Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the government was still in talks with Indonesia.

"We're gradually making progress (but) this isn't an easy matter," Downer said. "They have enormous problems to face on other fronts."

Downer said he discussed the issue with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda at a meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministers in Shanghai, China, but did not disclose details of the talks.

In August, Prime Minister John Howard refused entry to 433 mostly Afghan asylum seekers rescued from a sinking Indonesian ferry by a Norwegian cargo ship, the Tampa.

Australia said because the boat people had come via Indonesia with the help of people smugglers, they should return there. Thousands of refugees try to illegally sneak into Australia each year on ships operated by Indonesian people.

Campaigning in Queensland state on Friday, Howard said a boatload of refugees had been successfully turned away from the north Australian coast after naval officers boarded the vessel and warned the crew of the penalties for people smuggling.

"For the first time it represents ... a successful return of a vessel," Howard told reporters.

Howard said people on board the boat were given humanitarian aid including a woman who gave birth to a child just before entering Australian territorial waters. Their nationalities were not released.

Stemming the flow of asylum seekers has become a central issue in the Nov. 10 election campaign at which Howard's conservative government is seeking a third term.

Howard said there were mixed signs that the constant monitoring of seas north of Australia by Australian naval ships was deterring people smugglers.

"There is evidence that the flow into the pipeline has slowed down, but there is still a backlog in Indonesia and the possibility for a number of boats endeavoring to come to Australia to beat the onset of the wet season can't be discounted," he said.