Indonesian Foreign Ministry said last week they had asked Australia for clarification on its new asylum-seeker policy to ensure that Indonesia would not have to deal with refugees on its own.

Jakarta said it wanted the settlement of refugees stranded here to involve originating country, transiting country and destination country.

Indonesia has been used as a transiting state for refugees from a number of conflict-plagued countries, including Iraq, Bangladesh and Myanmar, who are on their way to Australia.

Australia’s suspension of asylum claims from Afghanistan for six months and from Sri Lanka for three months came into effect April 9.

Canberra said that security improvements in the two South Asian countries meant their citizens no longer need to flee their nations.

Australia has hinted it will extend the suspension of asylum claims beyond the effective six and three months, a move that would raise for Indonesia the question of what to do with transiting asylum seekers no longer permitted to enter Australia.

Jenny Dee, spokesperson for the Australian Embassy, said Monday that the new policy would not affect Canberra’s commitment to continue to work with Indonesia and UNHCR in resettling refugees in Indonesia.

“Australia, is and will continue to be one of a number of countries, that have been active in resettling those people processed in Indonesia,” Dee said.

“The suspension will not affect our commitment to working with Indonesia, other regional partners, both bilaterally and through the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking and Related Transnational Crime, in developing durable regional protection solutions.”

She said since in 2009, Australia had accepted 120 refugees who had taken shelter in Indonesia for years, for resettlement in Australia.

The Indonesia government has come under fire at home for hosting thousands of refugees bound for Australia with many saying the country is serving as a dumping ground for asylum seekers.

“We expect the Australian government to prepare a framework to settle the issue, on how the refugee resettlement as well as security improvement would go,” said Kemal Stamboel, chairman of the House of Representative’s Commission I overseeing foreign and defense affairs, on Monday.

He said Jakarta’s poor homeland security had allowed refugees as well as human traffickers to enter and smuggle people into Indonesia.

“We want to see an applicable solution. What Australia proposes as an effective solution considering
we have hosted quite a number of refugees up to now and [that number] will probably rise with Australia’s suspension.”

Tri Nuke Pudjiastuti, a researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said the security cooperation between Indonesia and Australia concentrated only on the Indian Ocean and waters between Indonesia and Australia, which meant that Australia’s forces were only in a position to prohibit refugees from entering Australia.

“Cooperation on refugees and human trafficking should also cover the northern part of Indonesia, from which refugees arrive,” Tri said.

“We will keep receiving more and more [refugees] because the suspension will not discourage them from trying to get into Australia.”

Local media in Australia have said the suspension policy was adopted as part of the government’s efforts to woo voters ahead of the election late this year.

The government has been under pressure to limit the number of immigrants to Australia following a surge that has created tension among locals.

Canberra said in the future they would apply a “new, tougher processes” to the assessment of asylum claims from other countries and those currently on Christmas Island.

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