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hank you for bringing to the wider public the case of Indonesian nationals detained in Australia through the opinion piece by Donny Syofyan, “The tragedy of Indonesia’s international diplomacy” in the May 5 issue of The Jakarta Post.

We hope such opinions will bring concerted efforts to help bring our fellow countrymen home.

Since asylum seekers have been trying to reach Australia, Indonesian fishermen and charter-boat operators who bring them on the last leg of their journey to Australia have often been implicated in larger people-smuggling operations.

While the real criminals collect asylum-seekers’ money, poor fishermen are lured into complicity with the promise of a year’s earnings: sometimes as little as US$250.

Although the fishermen’s poverty does not excuse them from illegally bringing in foreigners into Australia, the Indonesian government, through its diplomats, has always ensured that those Indonesian boat crew members who claim to be underage should be treated as minors and – as Donny correctly asserted – not be imprisoned “with hardened adult criminals”.

To create a balanced view in understanding Ali Jasmin’s and other Indonesian nationals’ claims that they are minors, it is important to remember three points.

First, the Indonesian embassy and its consulates must respect the normal procedures imposed on our nationals in the Australian legal system, just as Schapelle Corby must go through the Indonesian legal system, no matter how many Australian diplomats are assigned to her case.

As a follow-up of the Bilateral Consular Arrangement between Indonesia and Australia signed during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s visit to Australia in 2010, we have a concerted network of Indonesian consular officials who coordinate with the Australian authorities to ensure that our nationals receive the best possible protection and representation under Australian law.

Second, the Ali Jasmin case did not go “unnoticed” by the Indonesian embassy and the Indonesian government. In fact, the Indonesian embassy in Canberra and the Indonesian consulate in Perth have been advocating for his release since 2009, by acquiring his birth certificate from his family, even though the age-assessment procedure prescribed by Australia at the time found him to be an adult.

 Australian judges have the final say on whether any evidence is admissible in court and unfortunately some Australian officials believe that his birth document is fraudulent. Continued efforts by Indonesian diplomats, concerned parties and Australia’s own Human Rights Commission have helped nudge the Australian attorney general to review 24 cases where Indonesians in detention have claimed to be underage.

Third, the discrepancy in the number of Indonesians and Australians incarcerated in the other nation’s prisons is caused by an imbalance in the volume of travel to the other, not for lack of advocacy.

The sheer number of asylum seekers wishing to move to Australia is so great that many Indonesians are implicated. Meanwhile, an Australian travel advisory that for almost 10 years had asked its nationals to “reconsider your need for travel” to Indonesia has shrunk the number of Australians headed to Indonesia, as school groups stopped arriving, while institutions dropped Indonesia from their list of neighboring countries to visit.

As a former resident of Canberra, Donny should remember Australia’s heated domestic dialogue regarding boat people.

What Donny and the general public aren’t aware of is that efforts to protect our nationals take place routinely, wherever in the world an Indonesian embassy or consulate is accredited.

Eko Junor
Spokesperson
Indonesian Embassy
Canberra