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akarta and Canberra are taking baby steps '€” again '€” toward resuming neighborly relations, thus, the latest boat-people issue is the first to test the commitment of both governments. According to recent reports, the Australian navy returned to Indonesian territory at least two boats of undocumented migrants attempting to reach Australia. The move was in line with Australia'€™s policy to '€œturn back the boats when safe to do so'€ in the words of its Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.

On Tuesday 45 boat people from African and Middle Eastern countries were en route to an immigration detention center in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, from Rote Island where their boat finally landed, according to police there.

The continuous flow of migrants claiming to be fleeing persecution, war and destitution is a challenge to the cautious resuming of bilateral ties; healing relations between nations takes time, but those fleeing unbearable conditions cannot, and will not, wait.

The handling of undocumented migrants is among the many issues affected by the current suspension of bilateral cooperation '€” in areas such as security, intelligence and information '€” in the wake of Australian spying revelations, which included the tapping of phones belonging to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the First Lady and other officials in 2009.

As a result, those fleeing their countries for Australian shores will face increasing uncertainty once they set sail from Indonesia. The practice of people smuggling is only possible because of corruption involving the smugglers and the authorities. Meanwhile we face uncertainty ourselves. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and Morrison are sticking to the '€œno comment'€ policy regarding ongoing operations at sea, with our minister only reiterating that to Indonesia, the '€œturn back the boats when safe to do so'€ policy was never seen as a comprehensive solution.

Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Moeldoko came across as being confusing as he said it was Australia'€™s right to turn back the boats; but he may have been only referring to the international respect of national sovereignty that pertains to every country.

Australians, however, cannot be blamed for demanding transparency from their authorities, especially given the high rate of accidents. Turning back the boats where it is safe to do so depends entirely on the judgement of Australia'€™s patrol authorities.

Amid this uncertainty Indonesia can only continue taking undocumented migrants into its detention centers, and stepping up its fight against corruption among all those involved in people trafficking.

Given the limited capacity of our detention centers, we hope our leaders will find a way to restore cooperation as soon as possible. We could hopefully move on to raise support once more for a regional solution, as in the establishment of Galang Island as a temporary home for Vietnamese refugees in the past. Because our porous borders and the inherent human instinct to survive '€” and, thus, those boats '€” will continue.