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ndonesia has reiterated its call for a regional solution under the Bali Process to address asylum seeker issues, following the recent boat accident off Java that is thought to have killed 200 asylum seekers heading for Australia.

An Indonesian official suggested here on Wednesday that member countries of the regional forum had not been fully committed to creating a concrete solution, and that the accident should serve as a wake-up call for a stronger and real partnership between those countries.

“The Bali Process has been merely consultative; the cooperation is still pragmatic, limited to seminars and other seminars. It hasn’t produced any real deals,” Indonesia Foreign Ministry director for international security and disarmament cooperation Febrian A. Ruddyard said in a phone interview with The Jakarta Post.

“But now after the accident, the Bali Process becomes more relevant. We want sender and recipient countries to more actively look for breakthroughs to tackle the issues. After all we [Indonesia] as a transit country also have to deal with this.”

Febrian said that the Bali Process had actually agreed earlier this year on a regional cooperation framework expected to produce a real solution for asylum seeker and human trafficking problems in the region.

He added, however, that details of the framework, including real measures to be put in action, were currently still being negotiated.

Febrian said there could be no better solution to the issue than a regional-based solution involving all sender, transit and recipient countries.

He criticized Australia for taking a unilateral approach to the issued, rather than a regional approach.

“Australia can’t do this alone. We need to discuss its input on the problems, and Australia should be clear on those inputs.”

Australian media have reported that the boat accident has triggered a “blame game” between the Australian government and opposition parties.

ABC News reported that on Tuesday, the Australian government released several letters it had written to opposition leader Tony Abbott, urging him to join discussions aimed at a compromise on offshore processing and preventing further disasters.

But opposition parties have said that unless the government puts forward a more concrete proposal, any discussion would be pointless.

While the government wants to resurrect its Malaysia asylum seeker, the opposition says asylum seekers should only be sent to countries that have signed the refugee convention. That excludes Malaysia but would permit the coalition’s preferred option of Nauru.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says he is not getting involved.

“I don’t think it’s time to be apportioning blame. It’s about ensuring those who are rescued are well looked after and how to prevent a recurrence of this type,” Marty said.

The Jakarta office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), meanwhile, said in a press statement sent to the Post that it supports the establishment of the regional cooperation framework.

“We are convinced that tragic boat accidents like the one last weekend off Java do stress the need for common States efforts, renewed international solidarity and cooperation to reduce the current level of irregular movements into and through the region, and to find protection alternatives for people who risk their lives to find asylum.”