I

ndonesia and Australia will discuss the latter's plan to set up a regional refugee processing center in Timor Leste, the Indonesian foreign minister says, as Jakarta has been left in the dark on Australia's new asylum policy.

Marty Natalegawa said Thursday he had a telephone conversation with Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith after the recent announcement by Prime Minister Julia Gillard that Canberra would establish a regional refugee processing center in the former Indonesian province.

"I had a conversation with Smith after the policy announcement and as I said before, we have not heard in greater detail about the policy," he said. Marty declined to comment on whether Jakarta supported the idea until he had heard more about the proposal, which experts say might turn Timor Leste into a "refugee island" because Canberra has hinted at strict requirements towards processing asylum claims in the future.

Gillard has announced she would continue freezing Afghan asylum claims because of improved security in Afghanistan.

"We haven't taken a position. We just heard the policy announcement by the Australian government a couple of days ago. We haven't made any decision to discourage or encourage the idea," Marty said. "There are still plenty of details to flesh out."

Marty said Australia did not consult with Jakarta prior to the announcement by Gillard nor was the proposal mentioned during the Bali Process, which Indonesia and Australia cochair. The Bali Process is a grouping of 50 countries in the Asia-Pacific region that aims to discuss efforts to combat people smuggling, including the future of Australia-bound refugees in Indonesia.

Jakarta has hosted around 14,000 refugees from Afghanistan intercepted on their way to Australia.

Experts have expressed concern that setting up a regional refugee center in Timor Leste could result in illegal migrant flows to Indonesia because of the porous border Timor Leste shares with East Nusa Tenggara province. Lax immigration control and the potential for social tension at the border are cited as among the risks Jakarta may have to anticipate once the proposal is implemented.

Marty did not specify how Jakarta would approach Australia's proposal but said he would discuss the issue further when Smith visits Jakarta this month, and added that a solution to refugee dispute should involve the countries of origin, transit and destination.

In her speech, Gillard said she had discussed with Timor Leste and New Zealand, a key resettlement country, the proposal because they were signatories to the Refugee Convention.